HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Simone Cunningham recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double, En’Dya Buford added a 12-point effort, and Old Dominion women’s basketball picked up a 65-47 win at Southern Miss on Thursday night at Reed Green Coliseum.
The Monarchs improve to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt.
For Cunningham, the outing marked her second double-double of the season. The senior out of Pleasant Grove, Alabama shot 6-for-10 from the floor, converted 1-of-4 shots at the free-throw line, and added a pair of blocks to her totals.
Buford finished in double figures for the ninth time this season and the sixth in the past seven outings. She went 3-for-7 on the night, including 2-for-3 from distance, and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line. The graduate student from Memphis, Tennessee pulled down five boards and collected five steals, a new season best.
Brenda Fontana contributed eight points and six rebounds while Hama’ya Fielder and Simaru Fields turned in seven points each. A total of 11 Monarchs found the scoring column as the team combined to go 25-for-64 (39.1%) from the field, 6-for-19 (31.6%) from beyond the arc, and 9-for-15 (60.0%) at the stripe.
The battle on the glass proved to be a key part of the game with ODU outrebounding Southern Miss, 50-28. The Monarchs, who came into the game ranked 10th nationally with 17.0 offensive rebounds per game, finished with 20. ODU tallied 20 second-chance points compared to none by the hosts and scored more points off turnovers, 21-12.
Fontana opened the scoring with a 1-for-2 effort at the line, then followed that up with a three-pointer from the left side for a 4-0 start. A layup by Southern Miss’s Micah Cooper knotted the game at 8-8 at the 5:44 mark, but a jumper from Cunningham opened up an 8-0 response and ODU led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Fielder opened the second quarter with a three ball and Camryn Hill completed an and-one opportunity to push the lead to 24-10. Je’Mya Evans then scored six unanswered for the Lady Eagles (5-8, 1-1 Sun Belt) to fight back to within 24-16 with 5:36 on the clock. Later, Buford made a pair of free throws and Fields drained a triple from the right wing to put ODU up 31-19. Cunningham then closed out the half with a jumper and the Monarchs took a 33-22 lead into the locker room.
ODU pushed its advantage to 19 points, 45-26, as Fields scored a jumper and Buford and Marie Kenembeni followed with back-to-back long balls. Another couple of baskets by Cunningham made it 51-30 with under three minutes to play in the third quarter. Fielder then earned a trip to the line and hit both of her shots and Nisaa Muhammad scored with 1 seconds remaining as ODU went into the final 10 minutes with a comfortable 55-35 lead.
The Monarchs took their largest lead of the evening, 64-37, with a 7-0 push midway through the fourth. Mikayla Brown and Buford scored a pair of layups before Buford sank a long three from the top of the arc. A couple of late Samantha Shanks three-pointers highlighted an 8-0 response by the Lady Eagles, but the game was well out of reach as the Monarchs earned their fourth straight win.
Trinity Rowe, who was voted Sun Belt Player of the Week on Tuesday after scoring 25 points in a win at Georgia State last Sunday, was held to just three points.
ODU continues its road trip this Saturday with a 3 p.m. EST game at ULM.