CONWAY, S.C. – Double-doubles by Simone Cunningham and Brenda Fontana helped propel Old Dominion women’s basketball to its third-straight victory as the Monarchs defeated Coastal Carolina 81-65 on Wednesday night at the HTC Center.
Both seniors set new career highs in scoring as they finished with 21 points each. Cunningham added 12 rebounds, and Fontana matched her career bests with 11 boards and four three-pointers made. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native also recorded three blocks and had one steal with one assist.
Kelsey Thompson chipped in 11 points with five rebounds and four assists while En’Dya Buford finished the night with eight points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.
The Chanticleers (21-7, 11-6 Sun Belt) led 20-18 at the end of the first, but the Monarchs (17-13, 9-8) took over with a 30-point second quarter. After CCU’s Kristin Williams made three free throws to put the hosts up 27-23, Sarah Hammack Fitzgerald went 1-for-2 at the line, Cunningham scored a layup, and Thompson hit a jumper to put ODU ahead, 28-27 at the 6:19 mark.
Nearly two minutes later, Hama’ya Fielder knocked down a three from the right wing to even the game at 33-33. After a bucket by Coastal’s Anaya Barney, Cunningham went 1-for-2 at the line, Mariah Clayton converted both of her free throws, and Fielder sank another shot from the perimeter to made it a 39-35 Monarch lead. A Savannah Brooks layup trimmed ODU’s lead to 43-39, but Fontana made a three-pointer and Clayton added two free throws with one second left as the Monarchs led 48-39 at the break.
Old Dominion carried that momentum into the second half. Another two deep balls from Fontana and one by Simaru Fields pushed the lead to 20, 61-41 with 6:58 to go in the third. Neither side scored for over two minutes late in the quarter, but Thompson earned a trip to the charity stripe and made both of her shots, and a Cunningham layup beat the buzzer as ODU took a 70-48 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
Coastal Carolina put together an 8-0 run midway through the fourth to trim ODU’s lead to 73-60 with 4:28 left in the game. Dawson Jemerson scored a basket to make it 75-62 with just over three minutes remaining, but the Monarch defense held the Chants scoreless until the final 20 seconds when Emilia Tenbrock completed an and-one opportunity to round out the scoring.
The Monarchs held the lead for nearly 25 and a half minutes and shot 27-for-69 (39.1%) from the floor), 9-for-29 (31.0%) from long range, and 18-for-25 (72.0%) at the line. ODU won the rebounding battle, 50-43, and turned 11 Coastal turnovers into 19 points.
ODU concludes the regular season this Friday at Georgia Southern. Tipoff at Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center is scheduled for 5 p.m.