By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – It was Senior Night Thursday for the Old Dominion women's basketball team, and when it really counted, when the Monarchs had to have points, three seniors delivered.
Brianna Jackson had 19 points and nine rebounds, Amari Young 14 points, 15 rebounds and three steals and Kaye Clark 12 points and seven rebounds as the Monarchs edged Appalachian State, 71-65, before a Chartway Arena crowd of 1,733.
Jackson, the 6-foot-3 forward from Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach, played perhaps her best game of the season, and certainly her best fourth quarter – she had 10 points and four rebounds in the final period. Clark also came up big with seven points and five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
The victory, combined with Coastal Carolina's 99-97 upset victory at Troy, moved the Monarchs into a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference with three games left to play.
ODU (19-9 overall, 11-4 Sun Belt) is tied with Troy (16-10, 11-4) and James Madison (21-6, 11-4). ODU ends its home season Saturday at 2 p.m. with a rivalry game against JMU.
The top four teams at the end of the season get a double bye into the Sun Belt Tournament, held Feb. 28 through March 6 in Pensacola, Florida.
The victory gave ODU a measure of revenge for an 81-55 beatdown the Mountaineers laid on ODU on Jan. 5 in Boone, North Carolina.
The Monarchs were without Young, who was with her family in North Augusta, South Carolina. Her father, Al Young, died on Dec. 23, and head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said her team was devastated over Young's loss.
"We had redemption on our minds tonight," Milton-Jones said. "It wasn't about payback because that sounds malicious.
Kaye Clark glides in for a layup against Appalachian State.
"We wanted redemption, to right a wrong because we felt like the first time we played them it wasn't an equal showing because we were grieving with our teammate Amari Young at that time."
The Monarchs lost at JMU by 14 two nights later and they have since won 11 of their last 13 games.
The Monarchs were red hot when they hit the floor and took an 11-3 lead five minutes into the game, forcing App State to take a timeout.
Young made it a 15-7 lead with a steal and a layup – she had six points and seven rebounds in the first quarter. But the adrenaline wore off and App State got right back into the game with two three-pointers and a layup to take a 16-15 lead.
ODU led at the half, 31-25, but trailed, 45-44 at the end of the third quarter, and the game would not be decided until the final seconds.
The score was 59-all with 3:15 left when Young took a pass and powered in a layup that gave ODU the lead for good, 61-59. She was fouled and missed the free throw, but Jackson grabbed the rebound and was fouled and made two to give ODU a four-point lead.
Jackson then grabbed a missed shot and put it back in to push the lead to six, 65-59, with 1:17 left. 
ODU's Brianna Jackson had 19 points and 14 rebounds.
The Mountaineers trimmed the lead to three, 68-65, on a Chaé Harris three-pointer with nine seconds left. In a hurry to foul, App State's Taylor Lewis was called for an intentional foul when she knocked Young to the floor.
Jackson then made 1 of 2 free throws that gave ODU a four-point lead and the victory.
Seven players were recognized in a pregame Senior Night ceremony, although several could return.
Jackson could come back for another season, as could Clark, a senior junior college transfer, and Taleah Washington, a senior transfer from Syracuse.
Young, a fifth-year senior who will leave ODU among its top all-time scorers and rebounders, is out of eligibility after this year, as are graduate students Jatyjia Jones, a transfer from Memphis, and Makayla Dickens, the graduate transfer from Boston College, who was Jackson's teammate at Princess Anne.
Autumn Dodd, a junior guard from Neelyville, Missouri, was also recognized.
Jackson hinted that she will return when asked if she played with such intensity because it was senior night.
"A little, but not for me personally," she said. "I was really playing for Amari, Makayla Dickens and Ty (Jones).
"It's their last year and there's no way they could walk out of here with a loss."
ODU Women Get "Redemption" and Piece of First Place in Sun Belt With Senior Night Win Over App State
