BOONE, N.C. – The Old Dominion women's basketball team scored the first 12 points of the game, shot 87.5 percent in the first quarter and cruised to an 85-49 win at Appalachian State on Saturday to run its win streak to seven games. The Monarchs (9-2) made their final 11 shot attempts of the opening period.
"I'm so pleased we were able to play so well," head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said. "The main thing for us is our mindset. We needed to be poised in our attack. We were able to find open shooters, and they knocked them down today. It was wonderful to see everyone gave a one percent more effort on both ends of the floor. When you add that up collectively you get a great win like this."
ODU's 14-of-16 shooting performance in the first was its best in a quarter since a 9-of-10 (.900) effort in the fourth quarter of its 89-77 road upset of Auburn on Nov. 14, 2019.
The Monarchs led 32-10 after the opening quarter and were as solid defensively as they were potent offensively. Appalachian State (6-6) committed seven turnovers in the first quarter and shot under 30 percent.
ODU cooled off in the in the second quarter, shooting 40 percent to take a 49-24 lead into the intermission. After the first 20 minutes, the Monarchs were shooting 20-of-31 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep. The Mountaineers made just 10 of their 30 attempts from the floor in the opening half and were 1-of-9 from 3-point range.
App State opened the third quarter on a 9-3 run, shaving the deficit to 52-33. Iggy Allen responded with a 3-pointer, Ajah Wayne hit a trey of her own on the next possession, and the Monarchs went on a 14-1 run to lead 66-34 with 2:14 to go in the quarter. Old Dominion tacked on two more buckets as the third drew to a close to take a 70-37 lead into the final period.
"Everything is about confidence," Allen said. "I spend a lot of time in the gym, and my teammates find me for these shots. It's not all me. It's my teammates too."
"How are you going to stop them when they're working together? It's easy to stop them when they're working for themselves, but when they're working for each other that's a lot to deal with," Milton-Jones said.
With the outcome already determined, App State scored 10 unanswered in the fourth quarter and held the Monarchs scoreless for nearly four minutes. ODU ended the game on a 6-0 run over the last 52 seconds to produce the final margin.
Old Dominion closes out the nonconference portion of its schedule with a noon game at Temple on Wednesday.
"We're only going to keep climbing the mountain and get better," Allen said.
Game Notes
ODU runs its winning streak to seven games, its longest under head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. During this stretch, the Monarchs are outscoring opponents by 22.9 points per game, averaging 69.4 per contest on 44.6-percent shooting. Defensively, the Monarchs are holding opponents to .327 shooting during the run while forcing 24 turnovers per game.
The Monarchs received 20-point outings from both Allen (23) and Wayne (21). Allen set a season high while shooting 10-of-15 with eight rebounds. Wayne made seven of her 12 attempts from the field and came away with three steals. The Monarch duo combined to make six of their eight attempts from 3-point range.
Old Dominion shot a season-high 54.7 percent from the field against App State.
ODU shot 8-of-14 (.571) from 3-point range against the Mountaineers, setting season highs in treys and 3-point shooting percentage. The Monarchs had not made at least half of their attempts from deep since an 8-of-16 performance at Marshall on Feb. 5, 2021.
The Monarchs turned the Mountaineers over 24 times and were credited with 15 steals, their fifth game with 15 or more steals this season. Joy Campbell matched her career high with five steals. Ajah Wayne (three), Kaye Clark (two) and Aziah Hudson (two) also had multiple steals.
Old Dominion dished 17 assists, one off its season high, and six Monarchs had multiple assists. Aziah Hudson and Amari Young set season highs with three assists each.
Brianna Jackson set season highs with 10 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting with a pair of blocked shots.
Blistering Start Gives Women’s Basketball 85-49 Win at App State
