Jan. 9, 2005
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team's 122 game Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) home win streak came to end on Sunday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center as the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens handed the Lady Monarchs a 70-73 defeat.
The Lady Monarchs entered the game with a 126-1 home court conference record with the last loss coming back on February 19, 1992 in its first season in the CAA with a 70-74 setback to Richmond. With the loss, the Lady Monarchs, winners of 13th straight conference titles, fall to 134-12 overall in the CAA.
Old Dominion falls to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. Delaware remains atop the CAA standings along with Towson at 3-0 in the league. The Fightin' Blue Hens upped its win streak to eight games as they improved to 10-2 overall.
The visiting Fightin' Blue Hens led by six, 72-66, with 42 seconds left in regulation. CAA Rookie of the Week Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) grabbed the rebound as Julie Sailer missed the second of her two awarded free throws. The Lady Monarchs had two looks at the basket, but both a Green lay-up and a Jen Nuzzo (Newport News, Va.) three-pointer failed to sail through the basket. CAA Player of the Year Tiara Malcom hauled in the rebound, but Delaware turned the ball over right away giving the Lady Monarchs another chance to cut the deficit. Green was fouled on the ensuing lay-up and hit her free throw to pull Old Dominion to within three, 69-72, with 14 seconds remaining.
On the following inbounds play, the Fightin' Blue Hens were able to find Malcom wide open at center court. Malcom drove into the paint, but missed the lay-up. The rebound landed in the hands of ODU as the Lady Monarchs had a chance to tie the game. Senior guard Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, Va.) drove to the basket and was fouled with a mere two seconds left in the game. After missing her first shot, Grant sunk the second and fouled Delaware's Tyresa Smith to stop the clock with one second. Smith missed the first, but sunk the second free throw to put Delaware up, 73-70. Grant attempted a desperation half-court shot at the buzzer, but it fell short as the Fightin' Blue Hens picked up their second victory in the all-time series.
Delaware led the majority of the game and had a 37-33 lead at the half. Old Dominion led by four, 12-8, with 14:57 on the clock, but the Fightin' Blue Hens used an 11-2 run to take over the lead for half. Delaware led by as many as eight, but twice the Lady Monarchs were able to cut the deficit to three. Grant drained a three-pointer with 3:41 left in the half as the Lady Monarchs trailed 29-32, but another run gave Delaware back its eight-point edge. Four straight points by junior Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) to close the first stanza cut ODU's half-time deficit.
It was a see-saw battle midway through the second half. After leading by seven, Delaware lost the lead with 14:41 left as Old Dominion took an 11-0 lead to go up by four, 47-43. The lead would change six times over the course of next five minutes and Old Dominion held on to a 57-53 advantage with 9:05 remaining. The following five minutes would see the Lady Monarchs go scoreless as Delaware went on a 14-0 run to reclaim the lead for good. During the run, eight of the Fightin' Blue Hens' points came from the line capped off Sailer's traditional three-point play to put Delaware up by 10 with 5:17. From there, the Lady Monarchs mounted their come back falling just short of the win.
Both teams had four players in double figures. Delaware's Smith lead all scorers with a career-high 22 points, including a 10-of-12 effort from the line. Malcom had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Alena Koshanksy and Sailer each has 12. Davis led the Lady Monarchs with 19 points. Sophomore Tish Lyons (Newport News, Va.) had 11 points, one shy of her career-high, and eight rebounds. Green nearly missed her fifth consecutive double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Grant netted 10 points and dished out eight assists.
The Lady Monarchs return to action on Friday against Virginia Commonwealth. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.