Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at Home Against Georgia Southern, James Madison

Old Dominion (20-7, 11-5 Sun Belt) vs. Georgia Southern (14-15, 4-12 Sun Belt) | vs. James Madison (19-10, 11-5 Sun Belt)
Game Info – Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. | Friday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m.
Location – Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+ (Game 1 | Game 2)
Listen – Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats – Game 1 | Game 2
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion women's basketball wraps up the regular season this week with a pair of home games against Georgia Southern and James Madison. The Monarchs will host the Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and the Dukes at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
 
Friday's game will mark Senior Night for ODU, and the Monarchs will recognize the following in a ceremony after the game: Joy Campbell, Jordan McLaughlin, Kaye Clark, Nnenna Orji, Ivi Nikolova, Lanetta Williams, Jenny Nkem Womsi and team manager Noah Fort.

Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ with Chip Tarkenton and Kim Aston providing commentary. Fans can also hear Matthew Hatfield and Shonda Deberry call Tuesday's game on Priority Auto Sports Radio 94.1 and Friday's game on Fox Sports Radio 1310. Live stats will also be available.

The Series
ODU improved to 3-0 in its all-time series versus Georgia Southern with a 70-50 win in Statesboro, Georgia on Jan. 13. Tied at 16-16 at the end of the first quarter, the Monarchs went up by 10, 35-25 at halftime and pulled away in the second half. Jordan McLaughlin and Brenda Fontana scored 12 points each and Nnenna Orji chipped in eight points with five rebounds.

The Monarchs made the trip to Harrisonburg on Jan. 20, falling 72-64 to the Dukes. Down 56-48 heading into the fourth, an En'Dya Buford jumper and layups from Fontana and McLaughlin trimmed JMU's lead to 61-57 with 5:54 to play, but that was as close as ODU would get. Buford led the Monarchs in the loss with 18 points, Fontana also scored in double digits with 10 points, five rebounds and one block, and Kaye Clark turned in nine points with two boards and a steal. ODU still leads the all-time series, 52-29.

About ODU
The Monarchs (20-7, 11-5 Sun Belt) secured their third straight 20-win season last week with victories at App State on Thursday and at Georgia State on Saturday. Buford and Fontana scored 17 points each to lead the team past the Mountaineers, 81-62. Buford then set a new career high of 25 points as ODU downed the Panthers, 67-51.

Buford and McLaughlin are the top two scorers at 12.4 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Following them are Fontana (9.2), Clark (8.6) and Simone Cunningham (7.2). Buford and Fontana are the top two three-point shooters for ODU with a combined 74 makes from beyond the arc. Cunningham continues to lead the Monarchs on the glass with 195 rebounds (7.2 rpg), McLaughlin owns the team high in assists with 77, and Cunningham and Lanetta Williams (3.4 ppg) have recorded 19 blocks each. Clark leads the Sun Belt and ranks 10th nationally in steals (82) and is 11th in steals per game (3.04). Buford is third in the league in both categories with 63 steals and 2.33 steals per game.

ODU averages 64.7 ppg and is second in the conference in scoring defense with 59.9 points allowed per game. The Monarchs enter the week shooting .379 as a team, .284 from long range, and .657 at the charity stripe. Nationally, the Monarchs are 18th in turnovers forced per game (20.63), 24th in offensive rebounds per game (14.6), 25th in three-point percentage defense (.272) and 32nd in steals per game (10.6). ODU is also 116th in the most recent NET rankings.
 
With the two games left to play before the end of the regular season, ODU is tied for third place alongside JMU in the conference standings. The top four seeds will earn a double bye to the Conference Championship Quarterfinals.

About Georgia Southern
The Eagles (14-15, 4-12) had a couple of setbacks last week, falling 71-65 to JMU on Thursday and 87-81 to Coastal Carolina on Saturday in what was the team's Senior Day and Pink Out game. In the first game, the Dukes made 14-of-15 shots at the line in the fourth quarter, compared to a 6-for-13 rate for GS. Zaria Johnson tied a season in points with 16 to lead the Eagles in the loss, Ja'nya Love-Hill added 13 points with six assists, and Diamond Stokes ended up with 10 points.
 
In the second game, GS led 39-34 at halftime but the Chanticleers used a 29-point third quarter to pull ahead, 63-62. CCU then went on a late 9-2 run late in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Terren Ward led the Eagles with 31 points, Kayla Thomas followed with a career-high 16 points, and Love-Hill finished with 11 points.

Ward is the key piece for Georgia Southern. The senior from Jesup, Georgia ranks fourth in the country in field goal attempts (525), eighth in points per game (22.7), 10th in points scored (590), 13th in double doubles (15), and 16th in field goals made (212). She's also the conference leader in both rebounds (240) and rebounds per game (9.2). Simone James is the next top scorer for the Eagles with 8.1 ppg, Eden Johnson is third at 6.8, and Torrion Starks averages 6.0. Johnson comes into Tuesday's game ranked second in the league in blocks per game (1.23) and third in blocks (32).

The Eagles average 74.4 points, allow 69.8, and are shooting .396 from the field, .260 from deep, and .664 at the free-throw line. GS is the national leader in offensive rebounds per game (17.7) and the team also ranks fifth in rebounds per game (46.17), 13th in bench points per game (27.4), 22nd in turnovers forced per game (20.48), 24th in free throw attempts per game (21.03), and 25th in blocks per game (4.8).
 
Georgia Southern is No. 204 in the NET rankings and is tied for 11th in the Sun Belt standings with Coastal Carolina.

About James Madison
The Dukes (19-10, 11-5) split their two games last week, winning 71-65 at Georgia Southern on Thursday before coming up short at App State, 83-79 on Saturday. Peyton McDaniel netted 16 points with eight boards to pace the team in the win over the Eagles, Ashanti Barnes finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Jamia Hazell contributed nine points off the bench. JMU made 22 of their 25 shots at the line and also won the rebounding battle, 46-38.

In Saturday's game in Boone, North Carolina, the Mountaineers made 12 three-pointers and outrebounded the Dukes in the fourth quarter, 15-11, with six second-chance points. Hazell led JMU in the loss with 19 points, McDaniel followed with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Barnes recorded her second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

JMU has three players averaging double-digit scoring: McDaniel is first on the team with 14.4 ppg, Kseniia Kozlova is second at 12.2 ppg, and Hazell is third with 10.3. McDaniel is the go-to option from the perimeter with 63 makes and she's also third in the league with 183 three-point attempts. A redshirt sophomore from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, she also leads the Dukes with 201 rebounds. Kozlova averages 7.3 rebounds per game and is ninth in the nation in field goal percentage (.619). Annalicia Goodman (5.2 ppg) has blocked 14 shots and Hazell owns 26 steals.

As a team, JMU averages 72.0 ppg while giving up 66.6 ppg and is shooting .422 from the field, including .302 from long range, and .666 at the line. The team ranks third nationally in defensive rebounds per game (31.6), fourth in rebounds per game (46.41), sixth in rebounding margin (10.9), 11th in bench points per game (27.6) and 18th in offensive rebounds per game (14.9).
 
JMU is tied for third in the conference standings with ODU and is just ahead of the Monarchs in the NET rankings at No. 115.

Up Next
The Sun Belt Championship will be held March 5-11 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida. For more details, fans can visit the tournament website here.