ODU Women's Basketball Rolls Past Navy, 63-42, In First Round of the WNIT
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women’s basketball team was anxious for a second chance after suffering an upset loss in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament two weeks ago, and made the most of that chance Saturday afternoon.
The Monarchs bolted to a big early lead, held off a late run by the Naval Academy and rolled to a 63-42 victory in a first-round WNIT game at Chartway Arena.
The Monarchs (18-15) advance to the second round of the WNIT and will play at Purdue Fort Wayne (25-8) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Mastodons, who had a school-record 17-game winning streak this season, lost to Green Bay in the Horizon League championship game.
Purdue Fort Wayne will present a huge challenge for the Monarchs. At No. 88, it has the highest NCAA NET ranking of any team in the WNIT and is 13-1 at home.
ODU ranks 164th in the NET rankings.
Senior En’Dya Buford, who fouled out in the final seconds of ODU’s 65-62 loss to Georgia State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, led the Monarchs with 18 points and senior Simone Cunningham added 11.
Kelsey Thompson added 12 rebounds, and nine points and Simaru Fields nine points and three steals.
The Monarchs shot well, something they haven’t always done this season, making 22 of 51 (43.1 percent) and won the battle inside, outscoring Navy, 28-12, in the paint and outrebounding the Midshipmen, 47-41.
But it was ODU’s defense that won this game. Navy (19-12), which was upset in the first round of the Patriot League tournament, was generally forced to settle for poor shots and it showed in the box score. The Midshipmen made just 15 of 73 shots (20.5 percent).
Navy guard Zanai Barnett-Gay, the nation’s 11th-leading scorer, had 24 points and eight rebounds, but also struggled to get good shots – she made eight of 25.
“Our defense was outstanding,” ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said. “They took the shots that we dictated and we were able to get rebounds and get out and run.”
ODU led, 14-7, after a sluggish first quarter. But then the Monarchs got hot in the second quarter and quickly opened up a double-digit lead.
Hama’ya Fielder missed a shot but grabbed the rebound and made a three-pointer to give ODU its first double-digit lead, 20-9, 75 seconds into the second quarter.
Then, over a 90-second stretch, Buford made two free throws, Fields a layup and a three-point shot and Buford two more free throws to give ODU a 36-15 lead with 40 seconds left in the first half.
Morgan Demos made a hook shot with four seconds left to cut the lead to 19 at the half.
Navy slowly chipped away at the lead and cut margin to eight, 48-40, seconds into the fourth quarter on a Kyah Smith jump shot.
But then ODU went on a 10-0 run, including four points each from Cunningham and Buford, and coasted to the victory.
Milton-Jones praised Navy, which lost 6-foot-4 starting center Kate Samson to an injury earlier this season and recently lost two key players off the bench to injuries.
ODU had considerably more depth as Milton-Jones used 11 players seven minutes or more each.
“We were kind of able to wear them down,” Milton-Jones said. “We were able to keep fresh bodies on the floor.
“Had they had their entire lineup, and they could have played with their substitution patterns, it might have been a different story tonight.”
“Navy is tough, they’re physical,” Milton-Jones added. “These student-athletes that go to Navy, they are a step apart.
"They have PT in the morning, classes during the day, practice during the day, rinse and repeat, and they are dead set on serving their country in the future.
“You have to have a different type of mindset about you when you play at Navy and they put that on display with how hard they played.”
Milton-Jones gave her team more than a week off after the Sun Belt Tournament and she said her players returned to practice Monday refreshed, mentally and physically.
“We needed that,” Milton-Jones said.
Buford agreed. She said as she sat on the bench for the final seconds of the Sun Belt tournament loss, “I was just angry and frustrated,” she said. “The season didn’t end like we wanted it to.
“But hey, we’re here now. All the anger and frustration are gone. We just want to keep winning.”