WHO: ODU (7-4, 0-1 SBC) vs #14 Ole Miss (11-1, 0-0 SEC) | vs Indiana State (4-5. 0-1 MVC) or Michigan State (9-1, 1-1 BIG 10)
WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 21 - 7:30 p.m. | Monday, Dec. 22, 5:30/7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Cherokee, N.C. - Harrah’s Cherokee Center
ALL-TIME: ALL-TIME: ODU leads Ole Miss, 3-2 | tied with Michigan State, 1-1 | ODU leads Indiana State, 1-0
Live Stats: Click Here!
WATCH: Women’s Sports Network
LISTEN: Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM
SOCIAL MEDIA: X, Facebook, Instagram
NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women's basketball takes on #14 Ole Miss on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cherokee Invitational. ODU takes on the winner/loser of Indiana State and Michigan State on Monday at either 5:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. depending upon results tomorrow.
The game will be streamed on Women’s Sports Network. Matthew Hatfield and Shonda Deberry can be heard on Fox Sports Radio 1310 AM and live stats will also be available.
ALL-TIME SERIES & LAST TIME OUT:
ODU defeated Ole Miss, 75-66 on Dec. 9, 2009 the last time these two played. The Monarchs were fueled to victory from a dominant effort from forward Tia Lewis, she posted her first career double-double at Old Dominion and tied her career-high in rebounds with 17. A strong defensive effort by the Monarchs in the second half allowed only 12.5% shooting from the Rebels at the 3-point line against their 33% in the first.
ODU lost 74-48 to the Spartans on Nov. 26, 2008. It was a matchup between the No. 23 Monarchs and the No. 24 Spartans. MSU’s Lauren Aitch had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench to help Michigan State pull away from Old Dominion 74-48. In the second half, the Spartans managed to outscore the Monarchs, 41-21, and held Old Dominion to only one field goal in the opening nine and a half minutes.
ODU defeated Indiana State in the lone series matchup, 116-26 on Nov. 23, 1996 in the Dial Classic, Old Dominion went on to beat Wake Forest the following day, 84-41.
ABOUT ODU:
The Silver and Blue are coming off a loss in the opening game of Sun Belt Conference action against Troy, 81-58. The Monarchs are 2-1 in its last three games played after defeating Delaware State, 68-45 on the first of December and Howard, 63-59 on Dec. 7.
The Monarchs are the sixth best shot blocking team in the nation, averaging 6.7 blocks per game. Junior transfer forward Riley Stack is third in the nation with 34 blocks. Laila Walker’s 13 blocks are good for eighth in the SBC and Simone Cunningham’s 12 blocks are tied for ninth in the conference.
ODU is ranked 21st in Division I in total rebounding (44.0) and is 23rd in offensive rebounding output (15.9 orpg). The Silver and Blue ranks 45th in the nation with 11.4 steals per game. ODU is shooting 72.9% from the charity stripe this year to rank second in the SBC.
Old Dominion holds opposing teams to 33.5% shooting from the field, which is good for 16th in Division I. The Monarchs defend the perimeter at a high rate, holding teams to a shooting percentage of 26.5% to rank 51st in the NCAA. ODU forces an average of 20.64 turnovers per game to sit tied for 62nd in the nation. Simaru Fields and En’Dya Buford both have 26 steals this season which is good for 7th and 8th in the conference, respectively.
ABOUT #14 OLE MISS:
Ole Miss has started the season 11-1, it is only the second time under Rebel head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. Ole Miss is coming off a 68-point win over Mississippi Valley State (102-34), it was the largest margin of victory in Rebel history.
Cotie McMahon is the leading scorer on Ole Miss and averages 18.8 points per game. She is followed by Christeen Iwuala with 15.8 points and Latasha Lattimore rounds out the top three scorers with 8.6 points. Iwuala is the Rebels leading rebounder with an average of 9.1 boards per game. Sira Thienou has started every game at guard, she has the fourth most threes (12), is the team’s sixth leading scorer (6.8), grabs 5.8 boards, and is the team leader in assists with 36.
Ole Miss averages 82.8 points per contest and allows opponents to average 51.1 for a +31.8-scoring margin over 11 games played. The Rebels are shooting 45.2% from the field and 29.8% from deep with 6.2 makes per game. Ole Miss ranks sixth in the nation and third in the SEC in scoring defense (51.1) and are 12th in Division I in assist/turnover ratio (3.27).
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE:
The Spartans are coming off a 94-46 win over DePaul in Chicago. Head Coach Robyn Fralick is in her third season at MSU, she has compiled a career record of 245-96 and is 53-20 at Michigan State.
MSU has three scorers that average over 10 ppg. Grace Vanslooten leads the Spartans with 15.5 ppg and is tied for a team high 7.3 rebounds per game. Julia Ayrault ranks second on the team in scoring and averages 14.4 ppg. Theryn Hallock rounds out the top three with 13.3 ppg and has 46 made threes this season on 30% shooting from deep.
The Spartans rank first in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.31), second in bench points (38.6) and turnover margin (14.60), and are third in Division I in assists per game (22.9), scoring margin (39.8), and turnovers per game (9.9).
ABOUT IND. STATE
The Sycamores are on a two-game losing streak having dropped results against Butler (101-56) and Drake (97-77). Marc Mitchell is in his second season at Indiana State but has coached collegiate basketball for 17 seasons and compiled a career record of 267-205.
Kelsey Tierney, a sophomore guard out of Memphis, Tenn. leads the Sycamores with 17.7 ppg and ranks second on the team in assists (26) and three pointers made (12). Samiyah Briggs puts in an average of 11 ppg and Jayci Allen averages 10.9 ppg. Clemisha Prackett and Amarie Flowers lead the way for I-State on the boards, Prackett grabs a team high 8.3 rpg and Flowers is right behind her with 7.8.
Indiana State ranks fifth in the nation and first in the MVC with 34 bench points per game. The Sycamores take the 17th-most free throw attempts in Division I (23.22) but are ranked 255th in the NCAA in free throw percentage (67%) to sit in 34th in the NCAA in free throws made per game (15.56).
I-State scores 74.1 ppg to their opponents 73.7 for a +0.4-scoring margin in nine games played. They grab 41 boards per game and allow opposing teams to grab 40.6 for a 0.4-rebounding margin. The Sycamores swipe 7.9 steals per game and make 3.4 blocks per game.
UP NEXT:
After the final game of the Cherokee Invitational against Michigan State/Indiana State, ODU will return to Norfolk for the second game of Sun Belt Conference play against Georgia Southern on the first of the new year at 2 p.m. at Chartway Arena.