By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – A red-hot James Madison University women’s basketball team claimed the latest round in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry, defeating Old Dominion, 87-53, Saturday on Senior Day for the Monarchs on Saturday at Chartway Arena.
ODU (15-12 overall, 6-8 Sun Belt Conference) paid homage to seven seniors during pregame ceremonies and after keeping it close much of the first half, fell behind by 11 at halftime and never got any closer.
JMU (20-8, 11-4) has won six in a row and has victories under its belt over Power 4 schools Virginia Tech, Boston College and Wisconsin.
The Dukes played as well as ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said she’s seen them play this season. But she said the Monarchs made it too easy for them.
ODU was outscored 48-30 in the paint and 25-6 on the fast break.
“I’m disappointed, so disappointed in how we played,” she said. “And while I’m disappointed, it does not mean that the fight stops. We still have work to do and our season is far from over.
“We have four games on the road and we have to come out and win every game that we can.”
Milton-Jones paid homage to the crowd of 3,869, one of the biggest of the season for ODU.
“The best part of the game was the ambiance and the fans,” she said. “The fans turned out. It was Senior Night with family members here. And it was Valentine’s Day.
“There was a lot of love in the building, but JMU didn’t intend on giving us any love.”
The Monarchs fell well behind early as Bree Robinson gave the Dukes a 10-point lead, 21-11, with a short jump shot in the lane with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
The Monarchs’ defense toughed up in the second quarter and the Monarchs rallied.
Kelsey Thompson made back-to-back jump shots in one-minute stretch to cut the lead to four, 29-25, with 4:50 left in the first half.
Simone Cunningham then made a fast-break layup and ODU trailed by just two, 29-27, with 3:20 left.
Cunningham scored again a minute later and JMU’s lead was three, 32-29.
But the Dukes cranked up their fast break and outscored ODU 8-0 in the final 1:20 as Zakiya Stephenson and Peyton McDaniel made three-point shots and Robinson had a steal and a layup and the Monarchs trailed, 40-29, at the half.
They were unable to cut into the lead in the second half.
Thompson, one of seniors and graduate students who played for the final time at Chartway Arena, led ODU with 12 points while Cunningham added 10 and Nevaeh Scott eight.
ODU’s seniors – Thompson, Cunningham, En’Dya Buford, Simaru Fields, Hama’ya Fielder, Jaylen Ponder, and Laila Walker – were joined by family members at midcourt prior to the game.
They received flowers and a framed jersey from President Brian O. Hemphill, PhD., Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics, and Carolyn Crutchfield, executive senior associate athletic director for sports administration and external affairs.
Buford, a second-team All-Sun Belt choice last season, played parts of two seasons at Memphis before coming to ODU, where she became one of ODU’s best offensive players. She has so far scored 1,145 points so far at ODU.
Cunningham transferred to ODU from Shelton State Community College and in three seasons has scored 739 points, but has been at her best on defense and on the boards. She has pulled down 640 rebounds, blocked 74 shots and has 66 steals.
A transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast, Fields has been ODU’s leading scorer this season and scored 736 points so far in her two seasons at ODU.
A transfer from South Alabama, Thompson scored 516 points and pulled down 267 rebounds in two seasons at ODU.
Other seniors included guard Hama’ya Fielder, a transfer from Pearl River Community college, who played in 50 games; Jaylen Ponder, who transferred from Coastal Carolina, and Laila Walker, who transferred from ULM who had a career-high 14 points in ODU’s opener against UMass.
It was the final home game for ODU, which concludes the regular season with road games at Georgia State (Feb. 19), Coastal Carolina (Feb. 21), JMU (Feb. 25) and App State (Feb. 27).
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
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