Old Dominion (18-5, 8-3 C-USA) at UAB (13-8, 6-4 C-USA)
Game Info – Sunday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. ET
Location – Bartow Arena (Birmingham, Ala.)
Watch – CUSA.tv
Listen – Money Talk 1310 AM, 100.9 FM and 97.3 HD2
Live Stats – Click Here
Game Notes – ODU
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women's basketball team faces a road test at Conference USA West Division leaders UAB on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The game is streaming live on CUSA.tv and being carried live on Money Talk 1310 AM, 100.9 FM and 97.3 HD2.
The Starting Five
On Jan. 20, head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones was announced as a finalist for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Milton-Jones boasts an accolade-filled career in the game. She received the Wade Trophy in 1997 as the best player in college basketball and won two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA titles. The class will be announced on the night of Feb. 14.
ODU held off a late Middle Tennessee rally with three big defensive stops in the final 34.7 seconds and claimed a 58-56 victory at Chartway Arena on Thursday. Up one with 5.1 seconds to go, ODU forced a Middle Tennessee turnover on an inbounds pass under the Lady Raiders' basket. Iggy Allen made a career-high nine free throws, the last inside the final five seconds of the game. She finished with a team-high 13.
ODU shot 41.3 percent in the win, going over 40 percent from the field in back-to-back games since a stretch of five straight from Nov. 28 to Dec. 18. The Monarchs are 9-0 this season when shooting 40 percent or better.
The Monarchs are one of the tightest defensive units in the country this year. ODU entered Friday ranked 10th nationally and first in C-USA in scoring defense (52.8). The Monarchs are 24th in field goal percentage defense (.357) and 27th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.265), good for first and third in C-USA, respectively. ODU is turning teams over 21.22 times per game (14th in DI, 1st in C-USA) while averaging the 24th-most steals per game (10.9) in the country. Additionally, ODU is tops in the conference and 47th in DI with 4.4 blocks per game.
On Feb. 19, 2021 the Monarchs sat at 6-9 overall and 3-8 in Conference USA before ending the season with seven wins in their last nine games. The Monarchs are a combined 25-7 (.781) since that Feb. 19 loss to UAB. Those are the most wins by a C-USA team over that span, and no team in C-USA can match ODU's win percentage since Feb. 19.
Scouting UAB
The Blazers are the top team in the West Division, sitting at 13-8 overall and 6-4 in Conference USA. UAB ended a two-game slide with a 68-61 win at Southern Miss on Thursday.
Margaret Whitley led the way for the Blazers in Hattiesburg with 21 points on 13-of-15 shooting from the foul line. Whitley is tied for second on the team with 10.0 points per game and is first in the conference with an 85.9 free throw percentage.
Zakyia Weathersby had 10 points and eight boards against USM with four blocks. She averages 14.6 points per game (eighth in C-USA), and 11.1 rebounds per game (tops in the conference). The senior leads C-USA with 15 double-doubles and is tops in the league with a .556 shooting percentage. She blocks 1.76 shots per contest.
The Blazers are strong on the glass, leading C-USA in rebounding (42.86) and rebounding margin (plus-8.8). UAB boasts the second-highest scoring offense in the conference (68.8 points per game) behind the third-best shooting percentage (42.3).
The Series
ODU and UAB are meeting for the 24th time on Sunday. The Monarchs are 14-9 all-time but just 3-9 in the last 12 games.
The two sides went 1-1 against each other last season. The Blazers won 74-61 on Feb. 19 before ODU prevailed 70-47 the next day in the win that began the Monarchs' 7-2 close to the season.
Mariah Adams had 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the win. Ajah Wayne chipped in 13 points, eight boards and two blocks, and Amari Young had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double.
What's Next
The Monarchs have a pair of conference rematches coming up next as they host Marshall on Feb. 17 and WKU on Feb. 19.
Women’s Basketball Visits West Division Leaders UAB on Sunday
