ODU Women Defeat Georgia Southern on a Simaru Fields Three-Point Bank Shot

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – It’s not often that you win a game with a three-point shot that banks off the backboard and into the net, but that’s exactly how the Old Dominion women’s basketball team won its final home game of the season on Saturday.

With time running out, Simaru Fields took a pass from Kelsey Thompson and banked in a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left, and the Monarchs escaped with a 68-66 victory over Georgia Southern.

A Chartway Arnea crowd of 2,577, one of the largest and loudest of the season, roared with delight as Simone Cunningham ended the game by partially blocking an attempted game-winner from Indya Green at the buzzer.

It was Senior Day, and ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones delayed the traditional last-game ceremony until after the game, making it a festive if, as always, sad occasion.

Eight players were honored, including starters En’Dya Buford, a guard from Memphis, Tennessee, who was ODU’s leading scorer the last two seasons; Brenda Fontana, a forward from Buenos Aires, Argentina who started 61 games for ODU after transferring from UTEP; and Cunningham, who led ODU in rebounding this season, and had nine points and 10 rebounds Saturday.

“It was Senior Night and it was Fan Appreciation Night and I think both parties deserved to have an ending like today, where the game was down to the wire and we won off a buzzer-beater,” Milton-Jones said.

“Our seniors deserved to go out with a bang in our last home game.”

The victory came two days after ODU (16-13 overall, 8-8 Sun Belt) ended a six-game losing streak with an upset victory over Arkansas State. ODU is tied with Louisiana for sixth place with two road games left to play.

Other seniors honored included Camryn Hill, a guard from Dallas, Texas; Sarai Estupiñan, a guard from Cedar Park, Texas; Marie Kenembeni, a forward from Yaoundé, Cameroon; Mikayla Brown, a center from Dallas; and Sarah Hammack Fitzgerald, a graduate student from Chesapeake.

And although this was a night for seniors, it was a pair of juniors who starred for the Monarchs.

Thompson, a junior transfer from South Alabama, led the Monarchs with 14 points. Fields, a junior from Gulfport, Mississippi had 11 points.

Fitzgerald, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Campbell, played sparingly this season but played a key role in her final game at Chartway Arena.

Milton-Jones brought her off the bench in the fourth quarter to counter Georgia Southern’s size and she scored five quick points, including a three-point shot that gave ODU a 58-55 lead with 4:33 left, its first lead in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Southern (12-17, 4-12) rallied from the 58-55 deficit from the free-throw line, making five of six down the stretch, including two from Nicole Gwynn with 48 seconds left that gave the Eagles a 66-65 lead.

Following an ODU turnover, Jadyn Atchison rebounded a missed Georgia Southern shot, setting up a frenetic final 22 seconds.

Buford, ODU’s primary ballhandler and best player, had fouled out by this time and Milton-Jones left it up to Thompson to handle the ball in the final seconds.

Thompson found herself double teamed on the left side of the lane, but rather than rush a shot, waited patiently for a teammate to get open.

Fields worked herself free near the top of the key and Thompson passed to her a step after she got open.

“I knew it was going in,” Fields said with a smile.

Milton-Jones said she considered calling a timeout but when she saw how calmly Thompson was handling the ball, decided her team’s best shot at winning was to let the game play on.

"When En’Dya fouled out, we wanted the ball in her hands,” Milton-Jones said. “She didn’t panic and just throw something up when she was doubled. How she handled that was textbook, really.”

Fields’ game-winner was partially reminiscent of a bank shot, albeit from nearly half court, by Trey Freeman 10 years ago when the men’s team defeated Murray State to advance to the semifinals of the NIT in New York City.

"Any time you win a game like that, it's exciting, the fans and players get a huge emotional boost," Milton-Jones said.

ODU concludes regular-season play Wednesday at Coastal Carolina and then Friday at Georgia Southern before heading to Pensacola, Florida for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on March 4-10.

"It's extremely important for us to get another two wins," Milton-Jones said. "Not just for the sake of the rankings, but we want to end the season streaking and really shake off everything that we encountered in that six-game losing streak."