TOWSON, Md. – Playing with all of the confidence and swagger that was missing in last week's Conference USA Tournament, the Old Dominion women's basketball team claimed its first postseason victory in seven years Friday night.
Senior guard Iggy Allen led ODU with 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and added a stellar defensive effort, as the Monarchs defeated Towson, 72-66, at SECU Arena in the first round of the WNIT.
Brianna Jackson, the Virginia Beach native and transfer from the University of Miami, added a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Senior forward Amari Young had 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals and senior point guard Mariah Adams played a great floor game, with six assists, three steals, three rebounds and no turnovers.
The Monarchs host Columbia on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Chartway Arena in the second round of the tournament.
Columbia (23-6) advanced with an 80-69 victory over Holy Cross. Columbia is led by Abbey Hsu, a 5-foot-11 guard from Parkland, Florida, who scored 24 points against Holy Cross.
ODU advanced its record to 24-9 to match the most victories in a season since 2007-2008, when the Monarchs won 31 games. ODU also won 24 games in 2019-2020, a season that was cut short by the pandemic.
ODU last won a postseason game in the 2015 WNIT, when the Monarchs upended Virginia in a first-round game at Chartway Arena.
Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said she and her players are psyched to be playing at least one more home game.
"To have an opportunity to come back home and play in the postseason, I think that's an awesome thing to have," she said. "I hope people come and pack the arena because we're going to need them.
"We want to show the WNIT just hows powerful the community is in Norfolk and at ODU."
ODU finished off its season poorly, losing three of its last four games, including a 65-58 loss to North Texas in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. The Monarchs lost Ajah Wayne, their best player, to a torn ACL in their second-to-last regular-season game, and the Monarchs seemed dispirited by her absence.
But Friday night the team rallied around Allen, the senior transfer from Florida Atlantic, who may have played her best game of the season. She was, as usual, a force on defense, but shot well, something she hasn't always done.
Allen was nine for 19, including four of eight on three-point shots. Overall, ODU made seven of 15 three-pointers, far above its average, while Towson was just four of 19 behind the arc.
Milton-Jones said she was thrilled with how her team rebounded from last week's disappointing performance.
"I'm so happy for our group," she said. "We had a different type of energy and focus. I feel like we're coming together in the best way in the most important moment.
"Yes, we were disappointed with how we ended our conference play in the tournament. But man, we have regrouped and found a new love and a new goal to accomplish.
"I feel like winning in the WNIT, and advancing in the WNIT, is the perfect kind of ointment that we needed to rub on our broken hearts and broken spirit."
ODU appeared to take control of the game in the third quarter, only to watch Towson rally in the fourth quarter.
Adams swished a three-pointer at the end of the first half to lift ODU to a 34-31 lead. ODU held a precarious 44-42 lead in the third quarter when the Monarchs went on a 13-4 roll that pushed the lead to double digits.
Jackson had six points during that run, including a jump shot with 1:06 left in the quarter that gave ODU a 57-46 lead.
But Towson (24-8) is a quality team that earlier this season won by 17 points against Florida, which plays in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, and the Tigers rallied while the Monarchs went cold.
ODU missed 11 of 12 shots in a three-minute stretch and Towson pulled within three, 61-58, on two Aleah Nelson free throws.
Jackson then made a hook shot and Allen a running bank shot. Allen was fouled and made the free throw to push the lead back to eight.
Towson got within five in the final seconds and missed two three-point shots in the final 11 seconds, but could not quite catch the Monarchs.
Allen said the WNIT is like a second season for the Monarchs.
"We definitely stubbed our toe in the tournament," she said. "So walking into the WNIT is an amazing opportunity.
"This is the best ODU basketball team you're going to see this season. We're really fighting for something. We want a championship this season.
"We want to go out with a bang."
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ODU Women's Basketball Team Beats Towson, 72-66, to Advance to Second Round of WNIT
