HOUSTON – Old Dominion women's basketball earned its first win of the 2022-23 season on Thursday night as the Monarchs defeated Texas Southern 75-49 at H&PE Arena.
"I'm super proud of the effort, we answered the call," said head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "We could have come out here tonight and laid an egg. It wasn't the prettiest game, but it was a game that was good enough for us to win. And we needed to have that sweet taste of victory in our mouths. I'm hoping that that can carry over to when we play William & Mary."
Kaye Clark had a career night as she set new highs with 18 points and nine steals. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native shot 6-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from distance and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. She also had four rebounds with two assists and a block. Jordan McLaughlin also reached double-figures at 12 points and finished the night with five helpers, one board and one steal. Makayla Dickens and Kaylen Nelson followed with eight points each while Brianna Jackson and Jatyjia Jones both contributed seven points. On the glass, Amari Young collected a team-high nine rebounds, Jackson had eight and Jada Duckett seven.
The Monarchs (1-1) combined to shoot 26-for-70 (.371) from the floor, 7-for-20 (.350) from distance and 16-for-25 (.640) at the charity stripe. ODU also held the advantage in points scored in the paint (26-14), points off turnovers (34-9), second-chance points (9-3), fast-break points (10-2) and points off the bench (30-22).
"We had a lot to celebrate tonight. We won the rebounding battle, we took care of the ball a little bit better, but we distributed the rock a whole lot better," continued Milton-Jones. "We moved the ball, we moved our bodies. We saw execution within our offensive sets and then we also saw execution on the defensive end that created offense as well."
Clark opened the scoring with a three-point field goal in the first 15 seconds, then added a steal and a fast-break layup 20 seconds later. She also drew contact on the play and converted her free-throw attempt for the 6-0 advantage. McLaughlin then knocked down a jumper before finding Makayla Dickens on the perimeter for another three pointer. The Tigers (0-2) finally got on the board at the 6:64 mark, but the Monarchs scored another 10 unanswered points to extend their lead to 21-2 with 3:24 left in the opening quarter. TSU put together an 8-0 response before Jackson made both of her free throws to cap off the quarter.
"Playing with a new group of girls and coming back as a returner, it just felt good to get a win," said Clark after the game. "We went back to the drawing board and we had to come out with a lot of energy and a lot of defense. Playing together as a team, we just came out with a lot of energy and we were ready."
Jackson started off the second quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play. After TSU's Andriana Avent made a pair of free throws, Nelson buried a pair of jumpers to push the ODU lead to 30-12. The hosts were able to get back to within 10 points at 31-21 with 3:49 to go. Neither side was able to score again until Mikayla Brown assisted Clark on a fast-break layup at the 1:26 mark. TSU's Alisa Knight made a pair of free throws to make it a 10-point game again at 33-23, but Clark and Dickens both hit long-range shots to give ODU a 39-23 lead heading into the locker room.
The start of the second half mirrored the start of the first as the Monarchs scored 10-straight points to open the third quarter. Clark was fouled on a fastbreak layup and made the ensuing free-throw as ODU went up 54-28 late in the quarter. TSU earned the next three points and the teams went into the final stanza with the Monarchs in front, 54-31.
In the fourth quarter, ODU used a run of 11-0 to go up by 30 points at 65-35. With 4:04 left in the game, Brenda Fontana knocked down a long ball from the top of the arc to give the Monarchs their largest lead of the game at 70-38. The Tigers then outscored ODU 11-5 the rest of the way.
The Monarchs are back in Norfolk for their home opener next Tuesday as the team welcomes William & Mary for a 6:30 p.m. game at Chartway Arena.
Game Notes
- The game marked the first meeting between the two programs.
- ODU led from start to finish.
- The 11-0 run was ODU's best start to a game since going up 11-0 against Western Kentucky on Feb. 19 last season. The Monarchs went on to win that game, 75-55.
- Clark's nine steals were five steals shy of tying the program record for steals in a game, held by Ticha Penicheiro. The ODU alum tallied 14 versus Saint Francis on March 13, 1998.
- Nelson also set a new career high in points. Her previous best was five points at Florida International on February 26 last season.
- ODU is now 4-0 all-time against SWAC schools, having previously beaten Alabama A&M, Florida A&M and Grambling State.
Women’s Basketball Wins 75-49 at Texas Southern
