Matchup – No. 5 Old Dominion (20-11, 12-6 Sun Belt) vs. No. 12 Georgia State (12-20, 5-13 Sun Belt)
Game Info – Wednesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. EST
Location – Pensacola Bay Center (Pensacola, Fla.)
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – ODU Sports Radio Network
Live Stats – Click Here
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Game Notes – ODU
Championship Central – Click Here
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Old Dominion women's basketball will square off against 12th-seeded Georgia State in the second round of the 2023 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Hercules Tires. Wednesday's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. EST start.
The tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ and the women's championship final will be streamed on ESPNU. Fans can tune into the ODU Sports Radio Network to hear Matthew Hatfield and Charlie Woodson and also follow along with live stats.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Sun Belt's Championship Central page here.
The Series
ODU won both games against Georgia State during the regular season. Brianna Jackson scored a career-high 18 points, Makayla Dickens finished with 14 points, Amari Young scored 13 points with eight rebounds, and Jatyjia Jones added 11 points as the Monarchs won a close game in Atlanta, 73-70 on Jan. 21. The win marked head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones' 50th in her time leading the program.
The Panthers then came to Chartway Arena on Feb. 11, a meeting that also went to ODU by a final of 60-54. Kaye Clark led the way with 12 points, six assists, two blocks, one steal and one rebound in what marked ODU's Hoops for the Cure game. Young just missed out on a double-double with 15 boards and nine points while Dickens also ended up with nine points.
ODU enters Wednesday's tournament game with a 17-1 lead in the all-time series.
About ODU
The Monarchs (20-11, 12-6 Sun Belt) split their final two games of the regular season, winning 66-63 at Marshall last Wednesday before suffering a 76-68 setback at Coastal Carolina on Friday. That earned the team the fifth seed for this week's championship tournament. Also, with the win over the Thundering Herd, ODU has now reached 20 or more wins in four of the last five seasons.
The conference office released its End-of-Year Awards on Tuesday and Young represented the Monarchs on the All-Conference Second Team. The senior forward was the team's top scorer and rebounder during the regular season, averaging 11.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. She finished second in the Sun Belt in total rebounds (245), was third in rebounds per game, fourth in steals (57) and fifth in steals per game (1.97).
Also averaging double figures is Dickens with 10.5 points per outing. The Virginia Beach, Virginia native had the second-most three-point attempts in the league with 180 and was third in both threes made (60) and threes per game (2.00). Clark is third on the team with 9.2 ppg and is currently 17th in the country in steals (77) and 38th in steals per game (2.48). Jordan McLaughlin is contributing 8.6 ppg and owns the team high in assists with 107, and Brianna Jackson (6.3 ppg) is the leader in blocks with 19.
ODU enters this week's tournament shooting .393 (759-for-1929) from the field, .288 (166-for-576) from beyond the arc, and .626 (346-for-553) at the free-throw line. The Monarchs average 65.5 ppg and own a +3.8 scoring margin. The team finished third in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.8), steals per game (9.7), turnover margin (3.55) and turnovers forced per game (19.71).
About Georgia State
The Panthers (12-20, 5-13) dropped seven of their last eight games to conclude conference play, but prolonged their season with a 59-44 win over the No. 13 seed, South Alabama in the first game of the Sun Belt Championship on Tuesday.
GSU had three players score in double digits: Mikyla Tolivert led the way with 19 points, Deasia Merrill followed with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Zay Dyer turned in an 11-point performance. The Panthers were held to just eight points in the first 10 minutes of the game, but outscored the Jaguars 21-9 in the second quarter and 17-8 in the third to pull away.
Tolivert and Merrill paced the GSU offense this season with 14.0 and 13.2 ppg, respectively. Nyla Jean (8.4 ppg) is the top threat from distance with 32 made three-pointers. On the glass, Merrill pulled down 7.2 boards per contest and also led the team with 27 blocks. Tolivert and Mya Byrd (4.7 ppg) combined for 170 assists, while Tolivert and Jean both finished with 40 steals.
The Panthers ended the regular season ranked second in the Sun Belt in fouls per game (15.5) and were fourth in blocks per game (3.4) and field goal percentage defense (37.3). State came into the tournament shooting .409 (692-for-1690) from the floor, .270 (110-for-408) from the perimeter, and .708 (415-for-586) at the line. The team is averaging 61.6 points and has been outscored by 0.2 points.
NET Rankings
Sun Belt Conference in the NCAA NET Rankings – as of Feb. 27
| James Madison | 117 |
| Troy | 135 |
| Texas State | 149 |
| Old Dominion | 155 |
| Southern Miss. | 167 |
| Georgia Southern | 172 |
| Louisiana | 181 |
| Marshall | 184 |
| Coastal Carolina | 209 |
| App State | 231 |
| Georgia State | 248 |
| Arkansas State | 250 |
| ULM | 328 |
| South Alabama | 334 |
Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to a Quarterfinals meeting with No. 4 seed Troy on Friday at 3 p.m. EST.