SAN ANTONIO – The Old Dominion women's basketball team turned in a trademark defensive effort in its Conference USA opener, holding UTSA to 23.6-percent shooting with 25 turnovers in a 57-46 win inside the Convocation Center on Thursday night. The win was the ninth in a row for the Monarchs.
The Roadrunners (4-10) became the fourth ODU opponent to shoot less than 30 percent from the field this season and the sixth team to turn it over at least 25 times.
Old Dominion started the game on a 6-0 run and led 10-2 with 4:41 left in the first quarter. ODU limited UTSA to 2-of-12 shooting (.167) in the first and led 18-11 after 10 minutes. Ajah Wayne scored six of her nine points in the first, and Joy Campbell provided an early lift with five points off the bench on 2-of-2 shooting with one 3-pointer.
Campbell scored her five points on back-to-back possessions after the Roadrunners had pulled to four at 11-7.
ODU upped its lead to 11 at 24-13 with 6:59 left in the first half, but the shots started falling for the Roadrunners. UTSA made 6-of-13 from the field in the second quarter, including 2-of-5 from deep. Hailey Atwood connected from deep with 5:41 to play in the first, and the home team soon cut the deficit to five points. Iggy Allen scored with 50 seconds left to make it a seven-point contest, and Wayne hit a 3-pointer inside the final 30 seconds to make the score 33-25. The Roadrunners scored in the final seconds of the half to make the score 33-27 at the intermission.
The ODU defense held UTSA to 32.0 percent shooting in the first half with 17 turnovers. The Monarchs shot just below 40 percent in the half and made four treys. Wayne led all players with nine points, and seven Monarchs had at least two points in the first.
The Roadrunners came out of the break with four unanswered and trailed by a pair, 33-31, after just two minutes of action. Allen answered with back-to-back baskets, but the lead soon dipped to two points again. Amari Young converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 7:09 mark to make it a 40-35 score, but once again the Roadrunners pulled back to two points just inside the six-minute mark.
Soon the Monarchs shut the door on UTSA with an 8-0 run, holding the hosts without a point for over five minutes. Allen scored four of those eight points for ODU, bookending layups from Brianna Jackson and Mariah Adams. The Roadrunners sank a late trey to make the score 48-41 heading into the final period.
Allen erupted in the third quarter, netting eight of ODU's 15 points in the period, on 4-of-7 shooting with three rebounds. She finished the game with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double – her third double-double in the past four games. Additionally, she led the team with three steals.
ODU held UTSA to a single field goal on 17 attempts (.059) in the fourth quarter. The Monarchs built their largest lead of the game at 57-44 on the strength of a 6-0 run. Jackson got the run started with a three-point play before Allen scored the next three via the foul line.
Jackson finished the game with eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Wayne scored nine points and filled the box score with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. The Monarchs blocked six shots on Thursday. Young set a season high with three rejections.
ODU returns to action on Saturday with a 3 p.m. ET tip at UTEP.
Women’s Basketball Wins C-USA Opener, 57-46 at UTSA
