Old Dominion (17-15) vs. Navy (19-11)
Game Info – Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Location – Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM
Live Stats – Click Here
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion women’s basketball hosts Navy in the opening round of the WNIT this Saturday. Tipoff at Chartway Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Matthew Hatfield and Jim Corrigan will cover the game on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM and live stats will also be available.
For more information on the WNIT and to see the tournament bracket, visit the WNIT website here.
The Series
The only time the two teams have faced each other was in 2014, coincidentally in the WNIT with the Monarchs taking home a 68-60 win in Norfolk. The leading scorer in that game for the Monarchs was Shea Kelley scoring 22 points, including 16 in the second half. She became just the fifth player in program history to score 1,000 points in her first two seasons at ODU.
About ODU
The Monarchs (17-15) dropped their Sun Belt Conference Championship game to eighth-seeded Georgia State, 65-62 on March 7 in Pensacola, Florida. They went 1-1 in their last two regular season games, which were both on the road. ODU won big at Coastal Carolina 81-65 on Feb. 26 before taking a tough loss at Georgia Southern, 86-79 on Feb. 28. ODU is currently 162nd in the latest NET rankings.
En’Dya Buford was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team and is scoring a team-high 13.1 points per game. She’s second in the conference and 32nd in the country with 78 steals. She leads the Sun Belt with 2.44 steals per game and is also second in the league with 122 free throws made and136 assists. Following her in scoring are Simaru Fields (11.2 ppg), Kelsey Thompson (9.5 ppg), and Simone Cunningham (8.9 ppg). Fields has made a team-high 62 three-pointers while Buford has knocked down 46 threes. Cunningham is the leader on the glass with 251 rebounds (7.8 rpg) and is 10th in the country with 4.3 offensive rebounds per game. Cunningham and Brenda Fontana (8.5 ppg) have combined to make 48 blocks.
The Monarchs are scoring 67.3 ppg and allow 65.6 ppg for a +1.7-scoring margin. The team is shooting a combined 37.6% from the field, including 29.4% from distance, and 68.4% at the free-throw line. ODU ranks fourth nationally with 16.5 offensive rebounds per game and 12th with 42.34 rebounds per game. The Monarchs are third in the league in both three-point percentage defense (28.8%) and free throw attempts per game (19.66).
Saturday will mark ODU’s third appearance in the WNIT in the past four seasons and its 11th overall. The Monarchs are 8-10 in the tournament and Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones is 3-3 in the WNIT. She led Pepperdine to the Sweet 16 in 2019, then went 1-1 in the tournament in 2022 as ODU won its first-round game at Towson, 72-66 before falling to Columbia, 62-59 in the second round. The Monarchs dropped a second-round game at North Carolina A&T, 48-45 on March 24 last season.
About Navy
The Midshipmen (19-11) lost in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament to fifth-seeded Holy Cross, 66-52 on March 10 in Annapolis. The Mids were the fourth seed in their conference tournament and got to host the first-round game before falling short. Navy ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak to lead them into the conference tournament. The team is 184th in the latest NET rankings.
Navy is led by the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Zanai Barnett-Gay (18.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.3 spg) and Patriot League Rookie of the Year Julianna Almeida (9.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 37.2% 3pt). As a team, they are scoring 66.8 points per game while holding their opponents to 61.0 points per game for a +5.7-scoring margin. Navy is shooting 38% from the field while shooting 30.8% from distance and 68.9% at the charity stripe. The Midshipmen average more rebounds (40.3 rpg), steals (8.0 spg), assists (13.4 apg) and blocks (3.6 bpg) than their opponents this season while also averaging fewer turnovers (13.5).
The Mids’ most recent WNIT appearance left them with a loss to Virginia Tech in the first round on March 16, 2018. The Hokies held on for a 56-55 victory in Blacksburg. During their 2017 WNIT run, Navy defeated George Washington in the first round, 61-51 in overtime before falling to the Hokies in the next round, 75-64.
Up Next
The winner of Saturday’s game will move on to a second-round game against Purdue Fort Wayne.