ODU Women's Basketball Holds Off a Furious Troy Rally to Advance to Sun Belt Semifinals

By Harry Minium

PENSACOLA, Fla. – After two heartbreaking experiences in Conference USA Tournaments and losing her father in December, senior Amari Young committed herself to win a Sun Belt Conference championship and take her Old Dominion women's basketball team to the big dance for the first time since 2008.
 
Friday afternoon, she carried the Monarchs into the tournament semifinals.
 
Young scored 29 points, yanked down nine rebounds, made a layup with 2.1 seconds left that gave the Monarchs a three-point lead and then blocked the potential game-tying shot at the buzzer as ODU held off Troy University, 86-83, at the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
The Monarchs take on state rival James Madison Sunday at 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the semifinals. The winner plays in Monday's championship game at 1 p.m. in a game to be televised nationally on ESPNU.
 
The ODU-JMU rivalry was renewed this season after a 13-year absence when both teams joined the Sun Belt.
 
ODU (22-11)  lost at JMU 68-54 on New Year's Eve when the Monarchs were mourning the loss of Young's father, who died of a heart attack shortly before Christmas. With Young back in the lineup, the Dukes won at ODU in overtime, 73-68.
 
ODU was dominant most of the game against Troy, and led by 18 points, 73-55, with 7:55 left when Troy mounted a furious comeback and trimmed the lead to one with less than a minute to go.


 
"That was a very gutsy performance by both teams," ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said. "For us to play with the consistency that we did for three and a half quarters was beautiful to witness.
 
"But then for Troy to maintain their composure and bring a 20-point deficit down to one, you have to tip your hat to them and their coaching staff."
 
As for Young, Milton-Jones said "Amari has done everything for us all season. The thing that makes her so special is that she's so unselfish, that she's all about the team.
 
"You can't say enough about a player who will leave her heart and soul out there on the court every single possession."
 
Troy leads the nation in rebounding and was fifth in scoring, but was bottled up by ODU most of the game.
 
ODU out rebounded Troy, 39-38, but more importantly made 50 percent of its three-point shots (11 of 22). Makayla Dickens, a graduate student also seeking her first championship, did much of the damage from long distance, scoring 14 points while making 4 of 6 three-point shots.
 
Jatyjia Jones made 3 of 6 three pointers and scored nine points while Brianna Jackson played well in the paint and scored nine points and had five rebounds. Jordan McLaughlin also scored nine and made her only three-point shot.

ODU was two three-pointers short of the Sun Belt tournament record.
 
The Monarchs handled Troy's pressing defense most of the game, but the Trojans stepped up their full-court press in the fourth quarter and the Monarchs faltered.

 
Makayla Dickens had 14 points for ODU. 

McLaughlin made two free throws with 2:52 left to give ODU a seven-point lead, but Troy nearly took the lead in the final minutes.
 
The Trojans went on a 6-0 run, as Amber Leggett and Tai'sheka Porchia both scored on layups. Leggett then added a fast-break layup with 47 seconds left that sliced the lead to one.
 
Makayia Hallmon missed the potential go-ahead shot with six seconds left and Jones came up with what turned out to be the biggest rebound of the game.
 
Troy then knocked the ball out of bounds with 4.7 seconds left.

Young took the inbounds pass and dribbled for a layup with 2.1 seconds left. Following an ODU timeout, Troy got the ball to Jada Walton, who appeared open for a split second. However, Young rushed toward her and blocked the shot to clinch the win.
 
"I saw number five (Walton) open, but I have long arms and just prayed," Young said. "I was really just trying to contest the shot, but then I was fortunate enough to block it."

Young was on the 2019-20 team that was 24-6 and was good enough to win the Conference USA Tournament, but then the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.


Jordan McLaughlin bringing the ball up the court. 
 
Two years ago, with just seven able-bodied players available, the Monarchs won three games in three days before losing to Rice by two points in the semifinals.
 
For Young, a fifth-year senior from Augusta, South Carolina, this is her last chance to win a championship.
 
"I know my dad was watching down from heaven," Young said. "He raised me not to give up and we did not give up today.
 
"We did have a pretty good team (in 2020), but every year that I've been here, we've had a pretty good team and an opportunity.
 
"If this year is the year for us? I hope it's destined to be."