ODU Women's Basketball Opens At Home With 60-48 Victory Over Morgan State
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women’s basketball team was just two days removed from a 79-70 road victory over SMU, its first victory against an ACC team in ten seasons.
But it was apparent Monday night in their home opener that the Monarchs can and likely will be a much better team once this very talented group begins to gel later this season.
Led by their balanced scoring, the Monarchs put away Morgan State in the fourth quarter to claim a sloppy 60-48 victory over the Lady Bears before 1,641 at Chartway Arena.
ODU (2-1) got 12 points from newcomer Kelsey Thompson, a junior transfer from South Alabama, 11 from veteran senior Brenda Fontana and 10 from newcomer Simaru Fields, a junior college transfer, in a game in which the Monarchs at times seemed out of sync.
DeLisha Milton-Jones, ODU’s head coach, and her staff remade her team’s lineup in the offseason, bringing in 10 newcomers to add to the four returnees.
That is not uncommon in this age of the transfer portal, in which many teams radically make over their rosters every year.
Milton-Jones said this team is potentially her most talented in five seasons. “When we get things going, this team could really be something,” she said.
While ODU’s talent was apparent in the victory over SMU, in which the Monarchs shot and rebounded well and meshed as a team, that was not the case against Morgan State, a team that lost at Richmond, 93-39.
Morgan State outrebounded the taller Monarchs, 42-39 and Laila Fair, a senior transfer from UMass, had 20 rebounds and led the Lady Bears with 16 points.
“I did not like our level of execution on the offensive end,” Milton-Jones said, who added that some players took shots perhaps when they shouldn’t have instead of allowing shots to be dictated by the offense.
“You know, we’re still trying to figure some things out. When you have the type of talent that we have, sometimes that’s going to happen.
“You have to trust the offense and trust the ball movement and trust the fact that it will come back to you.”
The score was tied 8-8 late in the first quarter when ODU finally got untracked. ODU went on a 16-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Fontana that gave the Monarchs a 24-10 lead with 3:26 left in the first half.
But Morgan State then went on a 12-0 run of its own, capped by a Fair jump shot with eight seconds left that trimmed the lead to 24-22.
Fields made a running, three-point jump shot just past half-court to give ODU a 27-22 halftime lead.
Morgan State was very much still in the game with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter when Michaela Bogans made a pair of free throws for the Lady Bears that trimmed the ODU lead to eight.
ODU finally built the lead back into double figures when Thompson made two free throws, followed by a driving layup in the paint that gave ODU a 59-46 advantage with 58 seconds left.
Milton-Jones singled out center Mikayla Brown, a junior who is one of the four returnees. Brown had eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, and nine rebounds.
Nonetheless, Milton-Jones expressed disappointment with the lack of rebounding, ODU’s 24 turnovers and at times, her team’s lack of defensive intensity.
“We have to do a better job of boxing out,” Milton-Jones said. “I’m disappointed that we were outrebounded.
“If we want to assure ourselves of good, solid wins at home and on the road, then we must continue the mantra of defending, rebounding and getting out and running.
“We didn’t hit our free throws at the rate of efficiency that I’m used to. (61.5 percent)”
But she added that winning a game “that was kind of ugly and choppy” was a good thing.
“Tonight’s win was the fifth home opening victory we’ve had since I’ve been here and that’s something to celebrate,” she said. “We still have to applaud ourselves for going out there and coming away with the win.”
ODU next plays at home Friday at 4 p.m. against Bowie State. The game is a doubleheader with the men’s basketball team, which hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore at 7.