NORFOLK, Va. - Trinity Vance scored a career high 26 points with six made three-pointers, Riley Stack recorded a double-double with 19-points and a career high 11-rebounds, and Shadasia Brackens grabbed a career high 15 rebounds to help ODU defeat Tennessee State, 88-78 on Sunday, November 8 at Chartway Arena.
“We knew that we had to push the tempo in transition. If we get the defensive stop, then let's go, let's run, let's create numbers for our advantage,” said ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “This team was built to bring some offensive firepower and now it allows me to show a different level of intellect within my skillset, meaning we can isolate certain individuals for certain looks. [Shadasia] Brackens, [Riley] Stack isolated on the free throw line or even three-point line extended, they get one-on-one actions and can make good reads and play off the bounce. We have a plethora of things that we can look at this year to explore.”
“With this uniform on, you have to be able to secure the victory by being a two-way player, we can’t have lapses defensively where we allow, I don't know how many off-the-glass last-second heaves that they shot, off balance, and they made,” said Milton-Jones. "I kept telling my players, 'Hey you guys it is one of those games', when it was 62-60, I said to them if you allow them to hover around, they are going to hit another one of those to break your hearts.”
Old Dominion (3-0) earned a good test against the Tigers (1-2). The Monarchs only led by one point at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 61-60. But the Silver and Blue opened the first four minutes on an 11-3 run to take a 72-63. Vance opened the quarter with a made three pointer, Stack scored a layup off a TSU turnover, and Vance knocked down another triple to go up, 69-60. TSU’s Addison Melton went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe and Jing Xuan Zheng made a jumper to stop the bleeding, 69-63. But ODU returner Dalanna Carter knocked down a corner triple to push the lead to near double-digits, 72-63.
TSU cut the Monarchs’ lead to two points by the 4:04 mark in the final quarter of regulation. A 5-0 run was sparked by a made free throw from Nandinkhusel Nyamjav, she missed her second, the Tigers grabbed an offensive rebound, and Lakiara Alexander made a second-chance layup, then Nyamjav scored a driving layup in the paint. A 50% trip to the free throw line by Nyamjav made the score 76-74.
Carter went 1-for-2 at the line on ODU’s next possession and forced a missed deep ball by TSU’s Raegan Starks. The Tigers secured an offensive rebound, but ODU’s Mia Davis swiped the ball clear, drove down the court, and missed the layup. But the ball tapped up kindly for Shadasia Brackens to secure the rebound. She then turned around and nailed a jumper in the paint.
The fourth year forward then committed a foul on TSU’s Alexander who went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe to make the score 79-76. Stack went 1-for-2 at the line the next trip down, she missed the tail end of the two shots, but Davis was in a great position to secure the offensive board. She recycled the ball to kill clock, and eventually Vance got fouled on a shooting attempt by Somah Kamara. Vance went perfect from the free throw line to take a two-possession lead with 2:18 remaining, 82-76.
Brackens scored an audacious tip-in layup at 1:17 that came from a missed layup by Vance. She outstretched her body to get to the ball and somehow had enough balance and composure to get the effort to drop. Kamara scored a layup on the Tigers’ next time down the court, but she then fouled out with her fifth call of the night. ODU’s Davis went 2-for-2 to add more distance while under a minute left to play, 86-78. Carter and Davis both had one final trip to the free throw line due to intentional fouls on TSU. They each went 1-for-2 and the Tigers couldn’t score another basket as ODU improved to a 3-0 record to open the 2026-27 season.
ODU opened the first quarter on a 12-3 run that was capped off by a Jaida McDonald layup in the paint at 6:08. The Tigers cut their deficit to three points by 1:16 after a made three pointer by Addison Melton. ODU’s Landin Kelley went 1-for-2 at the line and Nyamjav went perfect to make the score 18-16 with 37 seconds left in the quarter. With four seconds remaining, Alexander scored a second-chance layup to knot the game at 18-18.
TSU took its first lead of the game six seconds into the second quarter after Alexander made a mid-range jumper from the top of the key. Raegan Starks came down a minute and a half later and increased the Tigers’ lead to four points. A pair of made layups by Riley Stack were separated by a 1-for-2 trip at the line from Brackens that regained ODU’s lead, 23-22. ODU went on a 4-0 run in the final 2:28, Carter went perfect from the line and Brackens scored a second-chance layup with 49 seconds remaining to give ODU a 33-29 lead at the break.
Vance (26), Stack (19), Carter (13), and Brackens (13) combined for 71 points while Mia Davis scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, and made six free throws on seven attempts. Stack recorded her first career double-double and bested her previous career high of nine boards. Vance’s previous career mark was 23 points and Brackens 13 rebounds at Utah Tech in 2024 was bested in their third game under head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. The Monarchs leader earned her 120th career win at Old Dominion with tonight’s victory.
“It felt really good to get a win as a team, 3-0 is a really good start to the season,” said Trinity Vance. “After the last two games, I didn’t shoot my best, so I got myself in the gym and I knew my shot was going to be on eventually. Having a coaching staff that believes in you and pours into you as much as they do here, it’s a really good feeling.”
ODU scored four bench points, 46 points in the paint, 19 points off turnovers, 19 fast break points, and 15 second-chance points in the winning effort. ODU shot 49.2% from the field on 31-63 shooting and made 54% of its three-point attempts with seven makes (7-13). TSU shot 46.9% from the field (30-64), a high mark for ODU’s opponents this season, and shot 40% from behind the arc (6-15).
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion heads to the Robins Center to face Richmond on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. before hosting Virginia at Chartway Arena on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.