ODU Women's Basketball Team Falls to Georgia State, 66-62

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women’s basketball team mounted a torrid comeback that brought a supportive Chartway Arena crowd of 2,502 to its feet, scoring 11 consecutive points to pull into a 62-62 tie with Georgia State with 2:31 left to play.

But then the Monarchs went stone cold, missing their final six shots and fell to the Panthers, 66-62, Wednesday night to split the Sun Belt series with GSU.

It was the third loss in the last four games for ODU (14-8 overall, 6-4 Sun Belt) which hosts Sun Belt leader James Madison (18-4, 10-0) Saturday at 2 p.m. in the renewal of the TowneBank Royal Rivalry.

Kelsey Thompson, the transfer from South Alabama, led ODU with 21 points and Simone Cunningham added 15 points and 12 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season and second in as many games.

Both also played a big hand in ODU’s rally, as Thompson scored five and Cunningham six of ODU’s 11 points.

ODU appeared to be in good shape at that point, as Cunningham, the 5-foot-10 senior from Pleasant Grove, Alabama, rebounded a Kaleigh Addie missed shot with 2:01 left.

But Cuningham was assessed a foul. Game officials then conferred and watched a replay and upgraded it to an intentional foul.

DeLisha Milton-Jones, ODU’s head coach, pleaded for a reversal of the call to no avail. 

Mikyla Tolivert then made one of two free throws and the Panthers led, 63-62.

Because of the intentional foul, the Panthers got the ball back, and while they failed to score, they were able to burn precious seconds off the clock.

The Monarchs missed three shots over their next two possessions and with 30 seconds left, they were forced to foul. Tolivert then made two free throws to build the lead to three.

ODU’s Simaru Fields, who had nine points, missed with 25 seconds left and the Monarchs immediately attempted to foul again. But try as they might to foul, Georgia Southern was able to bleed 17 seconds off the clock before a foul was called.

“We were clearly trying to foul,” Milton-Jones said. “And I even think she double-dribbled in the process.

“Some things were missed (by game officials) and it’s frustrating when it happens, but humans are officiating the game, so human error can come into play.

"But we had plenty of chances to win that game. We just didn't do what we needed to do."

Patience Williams made one of two free throws with eight seconds left, which put the game out of reach.

Its was the second game in four days between the two teams. ODU won, 64-57, on Saturday in Atlanta.

“We’ve done a great job of handling Georgia State since we came into the league,” Milton-Jones said. “We were 5-0 against them and we won a big game against them on the road last week.”

“So you would think, coming home, it would be prime for the picking for us to put on a really great show for a great crowd.

“I’m ready for this team to turn the corner, but tonight it just seemed like we couldn’t keep anyone in front of us. Our one-on-one defensive efforts were lackluster. We didn’t have the pop or tenacity that I’m accustomed to us playing with.”

ODU outscored Georgia State, 31-1, in second-chance points and Milton-Jones said it's difficult to lose with that kind of advantage.

Milton-Jones said that she and her players need to do some soul-searching as they prepare to host JMU, which has won 10 in a row and last lost to AP Top 25 teams in North Carolina State and Texas.

"When you're playing against James Madison, you can't make mistakes," she said. "They have great leadership and they are very disciplined.

"They are No. 1 in our league and have a presence about them. We're going to need a great effort to win."

Milton-Jones got on the loudspeaker at game's end to thank the crowd for its support and to urge fans to turn out on Saturday.

"I'd like to have everyone in the building back on Saturday, plus 1,000 more," she said. "Our fans have been great this year and we're going to need them against JMU."