CHEROKEE, N.C. - Old Dominion fell behind, fought back its deficit to 10 by the end of the third, but ultimately dropped the first match of the Cherokee Invitational, 86-57 against #14 Ole Miss on Sunday night at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
“Tonight was a hard-fought game,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “I was super proud of our toughness we put on display, although the score doesn’t reflect it. We did make it a close ball game. We fought back from a 19-point deficit, and we showed tremendous resiliency. Ole Miss is number 14 in the nation for a reason, but I’m super proud of my ball club at the end of the day.”
ODU (7-5, 0-1 SBC) took the lead early in the first thanks to an En’Dya Burford three at 9:26 to put ODU up, 3-1. Ole Miss’ (12-1, 0-0 SEC) Christeen Iwuala knotted the score at 3-3 on the next possession with a layup. Denim Deshields put the Rebels up, 5-3 a minute later and ODU would not regain the lead for the rest of the game. Ole Miss went on a 16-6 run to take a 22-11 lead at the end of the first.
Neither team could execute in the second quarter with a combined 19 points from both teams. Kelsey Thompson opened the scoring with a two from the wing, Christeen answered back with her own jumper two possessions later. Ole Miss’ Cotie McMahon put the Rebels up by 14 at the 6:18 mark with a second chance layup. ODU’s Nevaeh Scott responded with a fastbreak layup, 28-16 at 5:46. A pair of free throws by McMahon and Deshields went 1-for-2 at the stripe to go up 31-16 with 4:48 in the second. Buford went 1-for-2 at the free throw line nine seconds later, Christeen finished in the paint for two, and Buford went 2-for-2 at the line with four seconds remaining as the Monarchs headed to halftime, down 33-19.
Thompson got the ball rolling 43 seconds after the break with a made three-point jumper. A made layup by Buford with 8:03 remaining brought the score to 38-24, Riley Stack knocked down her first three of the season at 7:45 (38-27), Christeen came back down the court and finished in the paint, and Buford scored a layup with 7:03 in the third, 40-29. Stack came back three minutes later at the 4:45 mark and made another three-pointer before Ole Miss’ Sira Thienou scored a layup in the paint 30 seconds later to put the Rebels back up by 15, 50-35. ODU finished the third from then on with a 12-7 run. Simaru Fields knocked down a three, Stack finished in the paint for two, Nevaeh Scott finished a layup off an Ole Miss turnover, Buford knocked down a three on a fast break opportunity and finished in the paint with 17 seconds remaining to score the final basket of the quarter, 57-47 at the end of three. The Monarchs outscored the Rebels 28-24 in the third and it was ODU’s highest scoring quarter of the night.
Ole Miss’ Tianna Thompson opened the scoring in the fourth quarter after fighting her way to the line and making both of her attempts. ODU’s Nakiyah Allen scored the Monarchs first points of the quarter with a second-chance layup in the paint, 59-49. Ole Miss would go on a 11-2 run over the next four minutes, culminated by a jumper by Christeen at the 5:10 mark. Buford would stop the bleeding with a made layup on the next possession, but McMahon would answer with her two layups on the fast break on back-to-back possessions, 74-53 with 3:43 remaining. Riley Stack scored the final basket of the game with 13 seconds left to play to make the score, 86-57.
Buford ended the night with a team high 20 points, Stack had a season high 12 points and was one point shy of her career high. Scott and Fields both finished with six points. Buford and Thompson both grabbed a team high four rebounds. Thompson also made two blocks, and Buford swiped two steals.
ODU shot 40.7% from the field (22-for-54) and 41.2% from behind the arc (7-for-17). The Monarchs shot 66.7% from the free throw line on nine attempts (6-for-9). The Silver and Blue grabbed 25 rebounds to Ole Miss’ 40.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion takes on Indiana State on Monday at 5 p.m. in the final game of the Cherokee Invitational.