By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – In part because of some stern words from their head coach, and two practices that were more demanding than usual, the Old Dominion women's basketball team played with far more emotion and energy Saturday afternoon than the Monarchs did in a disappointing loss two days earlier.
ODU bolted out to an early double-digit lead, advanced it as much as 18 and then held off a late Coastal Carolina rally to claim a 78-64 victory at Chartway Arena.
ODU (14-9, 6-4 Sun Belt Conference) was coming off a 52-46 loss to Texas State after which head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones questioned her players' effort and focus. It was a game, coaches and players alike agreed, that ODU should not have lost.
The Monarchs practiced unusually hard on Friday and then again Saturday morning. And that, said sophomore forward Kaylen Nelson, got the Monarchs' attention.
"We had some tough practices, but they were definitely needed," said Nelson, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Tulsa, Oklahoma who came off the bench to score 11 points. "It just pushed us and dragged us to come out and win a game like this."
The Monarchs attacked Coastal's zone defense with far more effectiveness than they did against Texas State. Moreover, Jada Duckett (eight points, three blocks) and Brianna Jackson (eight points, eight rebounds) gave ODU a more imposing presence in the middle than the Monarchs had against the Bobcats.
ODU pushed the tempo and forced Coastal into 26 turnovers while the Monarchs had just 12.
Senior forward Amari Young led ODU with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals in spite of playing less than five minutes of the first half because of foul trouble.
Kaye Clark dribbling to the baseline
Meanwhile, ODU got a huge boost off the bench, as the Monarch subs outscored Coastal, 36-10. Taleah Washington came off the bench and made two three-pointers in the final minutes to help blunt a Coastal rally and finished with eight points.
"Tonight, that was ODU women's basketball," Milton-Jones said. "That's who we are. That's our identity and we came out from the tip. I felt like we won the warmup. Everyone was that focused and locked in."
Coastal Carolina (10-11, 5-5) came into Saturday with a ton of momentum. The Chanticleers played a rugged non-conference schedule that included three games against SEC teams and another against Wake Forest of the ACC.
Coastal had won four of its last five games, including a 15-point home win against James Madison on Thursday. But on Saturday, they were competitive only for a short stretch in the fourth quarter.
ODU led by 16 points, 59-43, at the end of the third quarter after a Young layup at the buzzer.
Coastal got three-point shots from Helena Delaurelle and Angie Juste-Jean to trim the lead to 10 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. Brenda Fontana (55) drills a three pointer over Coastal Carolina Chanticleers guard Deaja Richardson (5) in today's womens Sun Belt basketball matchup between the Coast Carolina Chanticleers @ Old Dominion Monarchs at Chartway Arena in Norfolk,Virginia." height="337" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/odu-prod/2024/04/30/lxKf4I7prBBBufKw1gqB7NYJYFTSIhpVMpsK3J2d.jpg" width="600" />
Brenda Fontana puts up a three-pointer that was good
Jackson made back-to-back layups, the last with 1:50 to go in the first half, to give ODU a 17-point lead, 36-19, one that Coastal could not overcome.
Milton-Jones was pleased with how her team handled the Coastal rally.
"What has caused our demise in some games this season is when teams would make a run, we would almost splinter," she said. "We would splinter away from what the game plan is.
"If we can follow it on the offensive end and defensive end, regardless of what run that our opponents go on, we're going to go on one as well.
The Chanticleers cut the lead to eight three times in the final minutes, the final time on a Miriam Recarte three-pointer with 2:40 left.
But Jackson made two free throws and then a layup with 41 seconds left that built the lead to 12 and put the game out of reach.
ODU jumped out to a 10-2 lead, with Young making a driving layup and a short jump shot less than three minutes into the game.
Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Pederson quickly called a timeout, but that did little to stem the tide as Washington put in a bank shot at the buzzer to give the Monarchs a 22-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. 
Kaylen Nelson surrounded by Chanticleers
"I have to commend our players because, yes, I have turned up the heat on them.
"But if our mindset is correct and we're sticking to the script and being stubborn in terms of your discipline, then we'll be fine. And that's really what this is all about for us from this point into the conference tournament."
NOTES: Mikayla Brown, a freshman center from Dallas, Texas, missed her third game in a row because of the death of her brother. Milton-Jones said Brown returned home to Dallas a week ago and added she's not sure when she will return. It's the second death to hit the Monarchs hard. Young also lost her father two days before Christmas. "We will rally around Mikayla just like we did Amari when she returns," Milton-Jones said ... The crowd of 2,587 included hundreds of Hampton Roads students and their parents who attended through the Stars of Power program, a national organization that rewards students who have good grades and show good character by providing tickets to games. It was the second-largest crowd this season ... The Monarchs hit the road next week for games at Southern Miss on Feb. 2 and Arkansas State on Feb. 4. They then return for their final four home games, all in a row, with the final against JMU on Saturday, Feb. 18 ... Duckett's four steals mark a new career high. Her previous best was three, which she'd reached three times, the latest at Louisiana on Jan. 19 ... Nelson's 11 points were also a career high. She surpassed her previous best of eight points at Texas Southern back on Nov. 10 ... Washington's eight points matches her season high ... It was the fifth time this season the Monarchs have led from start to finish. ODU also led the entire time in wins over Texas Southern, Coppin State, USC Upstate, and Lincoln (Pa.).
Jordan McLaughlin drives the lane for ODU