ATHENS, Ohio - Old Dominion women’s basketball battled for four quarters of action as the Monarchs defeated Ohio with clutch free throws, 84-76 on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
"Tonight's road win was exhilarating for our program,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "We played a great game from start to finish and had stellar performances by numerous players. En’Dya Buford led the way with her scoring ability and her efforts in facilitating for us on both ends of the floor. We beat a very quality team today and we look forward to building off the momentum we have created."
Old Dominion (15-10, 6-6 SBC) opened the game by going down, 5-0 in the first minute and a half before ODU responded with its own run. The Monarchs’ first basket came from a Simaru Fields jumper at 7:59, then Riley Stack finished in the paint for the two to knot the score at five each, and En’Dya Buford gave ODU its first lead of the afternoon with a deep three on a fast break at 7:14 to go up, 8-5. Ohio’s (13-9, 6-5 MAC) Elli Garnett came down the next time down the court and knocked down a three to tie the game back up, but Simone Cunningham finished in the paint to go back up by two.
Fields hit her second three of the first quarter at the 5:33 mark to give ODU a six-point lead, 15-9. The Bobcats’ Bailey Tabeling responded with a three and ODU’s Jaylen Ponder finished a second chance layup with 4:58 to play in the quarter. The Monarchs took an eight-point lead thanks to Kelsey Thompson’s fourth three of the season, 22-14 with 2:57 left. The quarter ended with a made driving layup by Ohio’s Monica Williams to cut the Monarchs lead to five, 24-19.
The Bobcats got off to a 5-0 run in the first minute and a half of the second quarter thanks to a made layup by Asiah Baxter and a made deep ball by Rere Jennings at 8:28, 24-24. Buford came back down the next possession and netted another long ball to go back up by three. The Monarchs would not concede the lead for the remainder of the quarter.
With two minutes left, Buford made a second-chance layup after grabbing the offensive board herself, 42-38. Ohio’s Williams scored a layup with 47 seconds left in the half, but Buford drew a foul from Aliah McWhorter and made both free throws with five seconds left. A missed three by Danni Scully followed and ODU went into the half up by four, 44-40.
Ohio came out of the break and tied the score up at 44 apiece after a driving layup by Bella Ranallo and a layup by Baxter at the 8:07 mark. Fields scored the first points of the quarter for ODU with a made pullup jumper in the paint 20 seconds later. Ohio took its first lead since its opening 5-0 run in the first quarter with a bucket by McWhorter with 6:29 left in the third. Cunningham went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe and Thompson made a jumper in the paint to go back up by one point at 4:37. Buford swiped a steal from Tabeling the next possession and finished a driving layup to go up three, 51-48.
A minute later, Cunningham finished a layup in the paint to push ODU’s lead to five before Ohio responded at 2:56 with a pair of free throws by Williams, 53-50. ODU’s Mariah Clayton scored four points in the final minute and a half of the third after netting a pair of free throws at 1:23 and a jumper with 36 seconds remaining. A made layup by McWhorter with 19 seconds remaining trimmed ODU’s lead to two going into the final stanza.
McWhorter got the fourth quarter rolling with a made layup to tie the game at 61-61. But the Monarchs would respond with a quick 5-0 run after a made three-pointer by Jaylen Ponder at 9:18. Nevaeh Scott swiped a steal from Tabeling at 9:07 and made a mid-range jumper to go back up by five, 66-61. Tabeling redeemed herself for the turnover with a made three-pointer on the next possession, 66-64.
Ohio’s Scully made an and-one layup and converted at the free throw line to go up by two with 6:35 left to play, 70-68. The key stretch for the Monarchs came after the fact, with Buford netting a three to regain the lead at 6:20, a made layup by Cunningham at 4:59, a made three-pointer by Thompson, and a jumper by Scott gave ODU a 78-72 lead with 3:43 left to play. Ranallo scored a driving layup the next possession, but Thompson responded with a second-chance jumper to maintain a six-point lead. Ranallo went 2-for-2 at the line after being fouled by Buford with 2:32 but the next time the score changed was with 27 seconds left.
ODU’s defense stifled the Bobcats’ offense in the final stretch, with Fields getting a steal, a block from Cunningham, a high effort play by Buford that forced Tabeling into knocking the ball out of bounds, and a block by Stack. ODU would not extend the lead during those crucial minutes, but they did keep the game at a two-possession length. Scott and Buford would both go 2-for-2 at the free throw line after being intentionally fouled and iced the game, 84-76.
The Monarchs shot 43.1% from the field, 41.7% from behind the arc, and 85.7% at the free throw line. ODU made 10 three-pointers, went 18-for-21 at the free throw line, and held the lead for 32:59 minutes of the game. The Monarchs bench scored 33 points, and ODU had 28 points in the paint while turning Ohio’s turnovers into 19 points.
Buford finished with a season-high 26-points and tied a career-high with five made deep balls while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Ponder was the Monarchs’ second leading scorer with a season-high 11-points and brought down seven rebounds. Thompson finished with 10-points, Cunningham had nine while Fields, Stack, and Scott all finished with eight points.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs return to Chartway Arena for the Battle of the Beach against Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. ODU has a TowneBank Royal Rivalry Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 14 against James Madison at 1 p.m.