By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women's basketball team closed out the fall semester on a roll.
The Monarchs overcame a nightmarish first quarter and rolled past cross-town rival Norfolk State, 76-47, Sunday afternoon at Chartway Arena.
It was the sixth victory in a row for ODU (8-2), which takes a short break for final exams before continuing play on Saturday at Appalachian State.
ODU led Norfolk State, 7-4, after a first quarter in which the Monarchs were stifled by the Spartans' zone defense. The Monarchs were held scoreless in the first five minutes, and at one point, the teams had combined to make just 2 of 21 shots.
ODU made 2 of 12 and led only because Norfolk State made just 2 of 18 shots.
"Norfolk State's zone defense had us thinking too much," coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said.
But the Monarchs regrouped in the second quarter, fired up their fast break and quickly took control.
Taleah Washington, the transfer from Syracuse, got things started with a fast-break three-point shot 23 seconds into the second quarter and then built the lead to 17-6 three minutes later with another three-pointer.
Junior Aziah Hudson made a three-point shot with 1:29 to go that lifted ODU to a 15-point lead, and the Spartans didn't get close the rest of the way.
Ajah Wayne, a senior guard from Birmingham, Alabama, was honored before the game for breaking the 1,000-point barrier, a feat she accomplished in a 67-50 victory over Saint Joseph's in the Van Chancellor Classic in Katy, Texas. She led ODU with 16 points Sunday and has 1,084 points for her career.
Wayne ranks 29th among ODU career scorers and could finish among the top-10 if she continues to score at the same pace through next season. Because of the pandemic, Wayne has another year of eligibility beyond this season.
She was presented a game ball with her name and "1,000 points" tattooed on its skin.
Wayne credited her teammates when asked about the pre-game ceremony. "I couldn't have done it without them," she said.
And while head coach Milton-Jones acknowledged that "it takes a village" for any player to score 1,000 points, she noted that last year, when the Monarchs won three games in three days in the Conference USA Tournament, and almost won on the fourth day as well, that "Ajah carried this team on her back."
Iggy Allen quickly snapped out of a one-game slump – she scored just two points against Bowie State last week – by tallying 15 points and matching her season high with 15 rebounds. Both Allen and Wayne made some acrobatic shots in the second and third quarters, when ODU outscored the Spartans, 46-22.
Washington added 12 points and Amari Young 10.
ODU shot well, making 25 of 52 shots, for a season high 48.1 percent. And that's a good thing, because the Monarchs had a season-high 31 turnovers, and had they not shot well, the game might have been a lot closer.
Milton-Jones brought in 10 newcomers this season along with four returning starters, and while the Monarchs had some hiccups in the early going, they are now firing on all cylinders.
"I'm sure some people are surprised that we're playing this well this early," Milton-Jones said.
ODU stumbled in an early home game against George Washington, 47-45, and then lost at VCU, 71-48, a game in which veteran point guard Mariah Adams missed because of a death in the family.
ODU rebounded with three victories in the Van Chancellor Classic, including a 59-45 victory over Texas Tech, the Monarchs' second this season against a Power 5 team.
ODU has won all six by an average of 26 points, a stat skewed a bit by Wednesday's 70-29 victory over Division II Bowie State.
The Monarchs have also won with solid defense, limiting opponents to 46 points per game during the last six games.
Milton-Jones said the chemistry is great on the court because it's great off the court.
"Our players eat together, live together, fight together and cry together, just like a family," she said.
"This is a very close team that trusts each other and believes in each other. If the chemistry wasn't right, we wouldn't be on a six-game winning streak."
After playing at Appalachian State, the Monarchs venture to Temple on Dec. 22.
Following the winter break, the Monarchs open their Conference USA season with home games on Dec. 30 against FIU and on January 1 against Florida Atlantic.
Game Notes
Old Dominion wins its sixth game in a row, the longest winning streak under head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. The streak is the second-longest in Milton-Jones' career behind an eight-game run by Pepperdine in January and February of 2019.
The Monarchs are outscoring opponents by 20.7 points per game over their six-game winning streak. During that stretch, ODU is averaging 66.8 points on .427 shooting with 15.2 assists per game. Defensively, Old Dominion is forcing 24 turnovers per game during its run.
ODU's 76 points on Sunday are its second most in a game this season. The Monarchs shot a season-best 48.1 percent from the field against the Spartans.
Norfolk State shot 31.6 percent from the field, becoming the fourth team to fail to reach the 35-percent mark from the field against ODU this season. The Spartans' mark of .182 from deep was the third-lowest percentage by an opponent.
The Spartans become the third team, and second in a row, to commit at least 30 turnovers against ODU. The Monarchs entered the day ranked inside the top-40 in Division I in forced turnovers per game.
Following her 16-point outing, Ajah Wayne now has 1,084 career points. She ranks 29th all-time in scoring at ODU and is one point behind Sharron Francis. Wayne has led ODU in scoring seven times this season and now has 60 games with at least ten points in her career.
Iggy Allen notched her second double-double of the season, and the 13th of her career, with 15 points and a season-high-matching 15 rebounds. She was 7-of-9 from the foul line.
Amari Young posted 10 points and five rebounds while going 4-for-4 from the field. That's the first time that Young has scored at least 10 points without missing a shot from the floor.
Aziah Hudson hit two of her four 3-point attempts and now has back-to-back games with multiple treys. Hudson has hit a triple in four of the last five games, going 7-of-16 in that span.
Taleah Washington set a new career high with 12 points while also hitting a personal-best three 3-pointers. Washington went 3-of-5 from deep on Sunday and is 6-of-12 from long range over the past three games.