ATLANTA - Old Dominion women’s basketball opened a double-digit lead early in the first quarter and held on till the final buzzer, defeating Georgia State, 88-75 on Thursday night in Atlanta. ODU is now 3-0 in its last three road contests.
"We got a much-needed road win to get us back on the winning track,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "Great performances by several players, but I'm mostly proud of our team effort tonight."
The Monarchs (16-12, 7-8 SBC) opened the first two minutes of action with a 6-0 run with baskets by Simone Cunningham and Riley Stack. GSU’s (9-18, 4-11 SBC) Gabbie Grooms hit a stepback jumper at 7:42 for the Panthers’ first points of the night. ODU’s Kelsey Thompson came down on the next possession for a bucket plus the contact and went 1-for-1 at the line and En’Dya Buford nailed her first three of the contest to go up, 12-4 with 7:02 left in the opening quarter.
With 56 seconds left in the quarter, Simaru Fields finished a driving layup plus the foul and made the freebie to go up, 27-13. Cunningham was fouled with one second remaining and went 1-for-2 at the line to give ODU a 15-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, 28-13.
The Monarchs continued to exert their dominance in quarter number two. ODU scored the only points of the first two minutes and went on a 5-0 run to go up by 20-points, 33-13. Grooms responded at the 7:13 mark with a three-pointer for the Panthers’ first points of the quarter. Grooms came down on GSU’s next offensive possession and made a driving layup plus the foul and converted the free throw, 33-19.
ODU brought its lead back to 20-points thanks to a Cunningham layup with 3:44 left in the first half. Both sides went back-and-forth for the final three minutes, but Mariah Clayton scored a layup with 22 seconds as ODU went into the half up by 21, 48-27.
Cunningham scored ODU’s first basket of the third quarter to go up by 22, GSU’s Crystal Henderson went 2-for-2 at the line and Cheyenne Holloman scored on a driving layup to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 18 points. ODU responded with a made pullup jumper by Thompson, Cunningham went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe, and Nakiyah Allen made a bucket plus the contact but couldn’t convert at the free throw line as ODU grew its lead to 23, 55-32.
The Monarchs only allowed Georgia State to score seven points in the last three minutes of the third. GSU’s Holloman was responsible for all seven with two made driving layups and a three-pointer at the 1:12 mark. ODU’s Dalanna Carter made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left before ODU’s defense forced a bad pass turnover from Holloman to set up an inbounds play from under the basket. Stack got into a good position in the post and a lofted pass from Carter found her and the junior from Piedmont, S.C. caught the ball and put it in plus a foul from GSU’s Ari Dyson. Stack made her shot from the charity stripe and ODU went up by 23 at the end of the third, 69-46.
Old Dominion took its foot off the gas pedal in the final quarter. Henderson made a driving layup in the paint at the 6:09 mark that cut ODU’s lead to 20, 77-57. Grooms hit a three-pointer of their next trip on offense to cut the lead to 19 after Hama’ya Fielder went 2-for-2 at the line beforehand. The closest the Panthers would come would be at the 1:09 mark as Ari Dyson made a pair of free throws to trim ODU’s lead to 11, 86-75. Jaylen Ponder scored the final basket of the night on a made driving layup with seven seconds remaining.
The Monarchs shot 48.2% from the free throw line, 35% from behind the arc with seven makes, and ODU shot 67.9% from the charity stripe (19-for-28). ODU grabbed 45 rebounds to the Panthers’ 36 for a +9.0-rebounding margin in the winning effort. The Silver and Blue scored 46 points in the paint, 44 bench points, 18 second-chance points, and led the game for 39:42 and never conceded the lead.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs head north to Conway, S.C. for the second meeting this season against Coastal Carolina. ODU takes on the Chants on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m.