NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women’s basketball improved to 2-0 after defeating Virginia State, 69-55 on Thursday night at Chartway Arena. ODU’s Shadasia Brackens led the Monarchs with 17 points in the winning effort which saw the Silver and Blue never fall behind.
“Tonight’s game was a good test for us, Virginia State, compliments to them,” said ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “I think they are hot right now, even after their loss from us tonight. I’m sure there are many good things they are going to pull from their film and feel really good about.”
“For us, it was a great game to play, it is going to have us fully prepared for Tennessee State on Sunday. But there are some things that we have to do better, yes, it was our season opener, and we feel really excited about that. But I want to make sure that any time we step on the floor we have an essence of ODU Women’s Basketball at play.”
The Monarchs (2-0, 0-0 SBC) opened the first two and a half minutes of game action on a 10-0 run against the Trojans. Dalanna Carter scored the first bucket of the game in the paint, Riley Stack scored a bucket that was created by a Carter offensive rebound, Brackens scored a pair of fast break layups, and Mia Davis finished a tough layup through contact.
VSU (0-0, 0-0 CIAA) opened their scoring tally at 6:27 in the first and went on a 5-0 run, Kendahl Spearman finished over a Monarch defender in the paint. Tamia Darden then went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to cut into ODU’s early lead, 10-3. Spearman grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed jumper by Davis and took it coast-to-coast for the two points, 10-5. ODU kept itself outside of striking distance from the Trojans, but VSU’s Gabrielle Gerlad scored a buzzer-beating layup to end the first quarter with a 16-9 ODU advantage.
The Monarchs stretched their lead to 17 points by the 3:57 mark in the second quarter. Trinity Vance netted a long ball from the win at 4:33 to go up, 29-14, and Brackens secured an offensive rebound from a miss by Davis and finished strong in the paint for a 31-14 lead. ODU would score one more bucket before the halftime break that came from first year guard Monique Phoenix with 57 seconds left. But the Trojans would go on a 9-3 run to end the quarter to make the halftime score, 34-23.
VSU’s Tamia Darden cut the game to single digits with the first basket of the second half. She made a three pointer from the top of the key with an assist going to Chloe Mills. Brackens came down the court 25 seconds later and nailed a turnaround jumper to go back up by 10, 36-26. ODU expanded its lead to 14 points by the 4:03 mark with a made three-pointer from the wing from Vance. The teams traded baskets with less than 35 seconds remaining, VSU scored a layup on the fast break, but Brackens scored a jumper in the paint 18 seconds later. Spearman scored the Trojan's second buzzer beater of the night with a made jumper from the mid-range, 53-43.
The first basket of the fourth quarter was made at 7:35, Brackens drilled a three-pointer from the wing to go up by 13. ODU expanded its lead to 16 with a made layup from Vance to go up 60-44. With 2:26, ODU would grow its final quarter lead to 22 with a made jumper by Davis from the mid-range. VSU scored the final eight points to make the final score, 69-55.
“This program was built on the backs of giants, and I want us to emulate everything they have accomplished,” said Milton-Jones. “Play hard but play with poise and value the ball. We saw different combinations on the floor that we liked, and we’ll watch film and pull things from this to show us where we can be better, improve, and we’ll go from there.”
Brackens led the way for ODU with 17 points on 8-11 shooting from the field, she grabbed five rebounds, swiped two steals, and made one block to earn ODU’s Player of the Game. Davis finished with 11 points on 50% shooting from the field and added five rebounds and four assists. Vance, Carter, and Stack combined for 24 points, Vance and Carter both tacked on eight and Stack scored six points.
ODU finished with 19 bench points, 42 points in the paint, 19 points of turnovers, 17 second chance points, eight fast break points, and led for 39:14 of the game.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion hosts Tennessee State on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. at Chartway Arena and will look to improve to 3-0.