FORT MYERS, Fla. – Old Dominion women's basketball came up short in its season opener as the Monarchs fell 81-62 to Florida Gulf Coast on Monday, Nov. 7 at Alico Arena.
Makayla Dickens shot 8-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-4 from long range to lead the Monarchs (0-1) with 18 points. The graduate transfer also pulled down two boards and added one assist and two steals to her totals. Jordan McLaughlin made eight of her nine shots from the free-throw line en route to a 14-point effort, and Kaye Clark also reached double figures with 10 points while blocking one shot with four steals.
Jada Duckett and Brianna Jackson led the team on the glass with six rebounds each, and Althea Kara Angeles knocked down both of her three-point attempts to end up with six points.
"I think that our guards came to play tonight," said head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "On the offensive end, we didn't have any type of balance in terms of our scoring in our post play. Our points in the paint came from what the guards created off of the dribble. When it comes to the post play, we have to be able to establish ourselves in there so that we can have a balanced attack on the inside and out. But when the posts don't come to play, they're not getting offensive rebounds, they're turning the ball over and missing the layups around the rim. That just deflates us and gives all of our momentum to our opponent."
FGCU scored more points in the paint (38-22) and had more production off the bench (37-15).
After the Eagles (1-0) opened the scoring with a layup, Dickens connected from beyond the arc to give the Monarchs the lead at 3-2. However, the hosts went off with nine unanswered to go up 11-3. A driving layup from Clark snapped the scoring drought for ODU. McLaughlin earned a trip to the line and made both of her free throws, and Angeles' look at a three-ball found its mark to get the Monarchs back to within a point at 11-10 with 1:16 left in the opening quarter. FGCU took off again, though, as the Eagles tallied another seven points over the final minute.
In the second quarter, ODU found itself in a 37-18 hole with 3:35 to play in the first half. That's when the Monarchs started to click as the team closed out the half with an 11-0 run. McLaughlin started it off with another two free throws. Amari Young then 1-for-2 at the line before adding a driving layup a few possessions later. Two more freebies from McLaughlin and a layup by Clark trimmed the FGCU lead to 37-27. A Dickens jumper with 35 seconds left capped off the push, and ODU went into the locker room trailing 37-29.
"We have the capability of playing two games in one," continued Milton-Jones. "We give up a lead, then we fight back to get back into the game, then we give up a lead and fight back again. So we do have some level of resiliency and are able to bounce back from large deficits, but we can't do that against very good teams. And Florida Gulf Coast, they are a postseason-caliber team. So we have to come with the mindset where we have to focus on the basics of what we are, stay true to our identity and not waver from that. We saw some good minutes from different lineups that I didn't expect to see, having to play together because of foul trouble. So those are some things that we can build off of as well."
After Clark made one of two shots at the line to open the third quarter, Dickens followed with a layup as ODU was within five points at 37-32. FGCU pulled away again with a 10-2 swing that made it 47-34. Later in the quarter, a Clark three-pointer highlighted a 9-0 push as the Monarchs got back to within single digits at 52-46. The Eagles closed out the final 1:16 with four free throws to take a 56-46 advantage into the final stanza.
ODU was unable to make any significant runs in the final quarter as the Eagles went 3-for-5 from distance. FGCU outscored ODU 25-16 over the last 10 minutes of action and held on for the 81-62 final.
The Monarchs have a few days off before they're back on the court as ODU heads to Houston this Thursday to play Texas Southern. That game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. EST start.
"I love that we are road tested at this point. We came and played against a very good team and we set the schedule up that way. We're going to take this and learn from it."
Game Notes
- The game marked the first meeting between the two programs.
- The Monarchs did edge the Eagles in steals (11-10) but finished the game with just three assists as a team.
- ODU is now 1-2 in its season openers during Coach Milton-Jones' tenure.
- Three of ODU's starting five scored in double figures.
- The Monarchs combined to shoot 15-for-19 (.789) from the free-throw line. Last year's team shot .628 and averaged 11.7 free throws per game.
- ODU's newcomers scored 40 of the team's 62 points on the night.
Women’s Basketball Drops Season Opener at FGCU, 81-62
