CHEROKEE, N.C. - Old Dominion women’s basketball finished the Cherokee Invitational with an 89-68 win over the Indiana State Sycamores in the consolation match on Monday evening.
“Great display of consistent toughness and execution on both ends of the floor for us tonight,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “It’s always a great feeling ending your non-conference schedule with a win. It is the best Christmas gift we could’ve given our program and loyal fans, especially with career high nights for both Riley Stack and Nevaeh Scott. I also loved that all Monarchs touched the floor tonight and contributed to the win.”
The Monarchs’ (8-5, 0-1 SBC) Simone Cunningham opened the scoring by going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe. ODU started the game with a 10-2 run highlighted by a three-pointer from En’Dya Buford. Buford had it going in the first with eight points, she went 2-2 from behind the arc and made a long two with her toe on the line to go 3-for-3 with eight points. ODU went into the second quarter up, 18-9.
ODU’s Nakiyah Allen opened the second quarter with a second chance layup 20 seconds in to make the score 20-9 Monarchs. The Sycamores (4-7, 0-1 MVC) went on a 5-2 run over the next two minutes thanks to free throws by Amerie Flowers and a three-point jumper at the 8:10 mark. Scott finished in the paint on the next possession and ISU’s Kelsey Tierney answered back with a jumper in the paint, 24-16 with 7:40 in the second. Old Dominion responded after that, Simone Cunningham finished a fast break layup, Stack stroked a turnaround jumper, Scott finished a driving layup with her right hand, and Buford finished on the fast break to go up 32-21. Stack finished a second chance layup at the 3:49 mark and she followed that up with a long-range jumper that counted for two because her foot was on the line. Laila Walker scored the final points of the half with 18 seconds left to give the Monarchs a 44-29 at the break.
The Monarchs shot 51.4% from the field in the first half (18-for-35) and 62.5% from behind the arc (5-for-8).
ISU got the ball rolling after the halftime break thanks to a Samiyah Briggs made second chance jumper, Scott responded promptly 18 seconds later at 8:43 with a pullup three. Tierney answered back with a pullup jumper on the next possession before Scott made an and-one jumper at the 8:06 mark and converted from the line, 50-33. Later in the quarter, the Silver and Blue would put together a quick 6-0 run thanks to a Buford finish in the paint, a mid-range Kelsey Thompson jumper from the corner, and a fast break jumper by Simaru Fields to put ODU up by 21. Fields scored the final bucket of the third with 19 seconds remaining on a second chance opportunity after the senior guard from Gulfport, Miss. outworked the Sycamore defenders to secure the offensive rebound. ODU ended the quarter with a 71-52 lead.
Neither team would find a bucket for the opening minute of the fourth until Dalanna Carter got a defensive rebound and brought the ball coast-to-coast, finishing the driving layup in the paint at 8:47. Another minute of action would pass by without either team putting the ball into the net, Buford put an end to that stretch and fought her way to the free throw line where she went 1-for-2 with 7:35 left to play. ISU’s Jayci Allen would get the Sycamores its first points of the final stanza at the 7:22 mark when she went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe. A missed three-pointer from Stack on the following possession was grabbed by ISU’s Kayla Smith who went all the way back down the court and finished in the paint, 74-56. On the next possession, Buford finished an old-fashioned three-point play after finishing in the paint, plus the contact, and she converted her free throw attempt. Mariah Clayton would push the tempo after securing a rebound on the next possession and stretched the Monarch lead to 23 points with a fast break layup, 79-56. ISU finished out the remaining six minutes of action with a slight scoring advantage, 12-8, but it was not enough to put the Sycamores back into the contest as ODU secured its eighth win of the season with an 89-68 final.
ODU had four scorers notch double figures on the night. Buford led the way with 19, Simaru Fields finished with 14, Stack set a new career high with 16 points, and Scott scored a season high 13. The largest lead of the night was 28 points and Indiana State never led. Old Dominion scored 40 points in the paint to ISU’s 24, and the Monarchs scored 21 second chance points to the Sycamore’s seven. The Silver and Blue ended the night with 61 rebounds (22 offensive) and a +21-rebounding margin. The Monarchs shot 43.8% from the field and 38.9% from behind the arc.
UP NEXT:
ODU returns 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.