Feb. 22, 2006
Game: Friday: Old Dominion vs. Virginia Commonwealth - Ted Constant Convocation Center - 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: Old Dominion vs. William & Mary - Ted Constant Convocation Center - 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Live stats are available at www.odusports.com for both contests.
Radio: ESPN Radio - 1310 AM - Join 13-time Sportscaster of the Year as Tony Mercurio calls all the action live. He will be joined by ODU Hall of Famer and former Lady Monarch Jan Trombly on color during all home games.
Internet: Live audio of the ESPN 1310 broadcast and video steam of all home games are available via the Monarch All-Access pass at www.odusports.com.
About Old Dominion: The Lady Monarchs' season is winding down with Old Dominion hosting Virginia Commonwealth Friday night and William & Mary Sunday afternoon in the regular season home finales. Old Dominion is currently on a 14-game winning streak and a victory against the Rams Friday night could clinch the top seed at the upcoming CAA Women's Basketball Tournament. This week, the Lady Monarchs once again received votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Recapping Last Week: The Old Dominion women's basketball team extended its winning streak to 14 games, as they defeated UNC-Wilmington 78-51 at the Ted Convocation Center on Friday night and earned a 60-57 win in a thrilling game at the Bob Carpenter Center against Delaware. Sophomore T.J. Jordan poured in 19 points shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range to lead all scorers in the Friday night victory over the Seahawks, while junior Tish Lyons registered 11 points. Junior Shantel Wilson led the rebounding department with seven and both Wilson and senior Lawona Davis each tied their career-high with seven assists. The Lady Monarchs led from beginning to end and led by as many as 30 points late in the second half. The Seahawks almost became the fifth straight team to be held to 50 points or under by the Lady Monarchs, however a UNC-Wilmington three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining, the Seahawks' lone from downtown, gave the Seahawks 51 points for the night. On Sunday, the two teams from last year's exciting CAA Tournament championship game squared off for the first time since the March overtime game. Junior Tish Lyons' clutch free throw shooting in the final seconds of Sunday's game clinched the Old Dominion's 14th straight victory as she led all scorers with 18 points and went a perfect 5-of-5 from the line. After being held scoreless in the first half, T.J. Jordan poured in 14 second-half points. Jordan, who went 7-of-12 for 28 points last year at the Bob Carpenter Center, opened the game 0-for-6 in half number one. Half number two proved to be a different story as she connected on four of her seven attempts from beyond the arc. Junior Sherida Triggs was also held scoreless in the first half, only to rebound with her fourth double-double of the year. Triggs ended the game with 10 points and 12 boards. Leading by two, 54-52, with 31 seconds left in the game, Lyons came up with a huge play as a Jordan three-pointer was off its mark. The ball landed right into the hands of Lyons, who was right underneath the basket to give Old Dominion a four-point edge. Delaware's Tyresa Smith cut the Blue Hen deficit to two, 56-54, with 23 seconds remaining on the ensuing play. With Old Dominion having possession of the ball, Delaware was forced to foul senior Lawona Davis. One of the Lady Monarchs' best free throw shooters missed the front end of a one-and-one sending the teams to the floor trying to grab the rebound. The ball went out of bounds back to the Lady Monarchs where the Blue Hens were once again forced to foul. Lyons went to the line and hit both free throws in a one-and-one situation as Old Dominion held on to a 58-54 lead with 18 seconds remaining. The Blue Hens still battled back and Alena Koshanksy got off a three-point attempt. The ball missed its target, but Amanda Blackstone grabbed the rebound and was fouled as she put the ball up and in. She sank her free throw and cut the Old Dominion edge to one, 58-57, with eight seconds left in the game. Once again, with Old Dominion in possession of the ball, Delaware was forced to foul putting Lyons back at the line. With only three seconds remaining, Lyons sank both her free throws to seal the game for the 60-57 Lady Monarch victory. The Blue Hens barely had time left for a desperation heave at the final second that fell way short of its target.
About Virginia Commonwealth: The Rams enter the Ted Constant Convocation Center with a 12-12 overall record and a 5-10 mark in league play. Virginia Commonwealth just snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 58-54 win at George Mason last Sunday afternoon. Before Sunday's win against the Patriots, the Rams' last win was a 72-61 victory over Towson back on January 22nd. Quanitra Hollingsworth, a 17-year old freshman from Chesapeake, Virginia and Great Bridge High School, continues to lead her Ram squad averaging 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per outing. The potential CAA Rookie of the Year has won CAA Rookie of the Week four times this season. Following the 6-4 center Hollingsworth on the stats sheet is 5-6 junior guardMichele Cosel. Cosel is averaging 9.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest.
The Series With Virginia Commonwealth: The Lady Monarchs hold a 47-8 record in the all-time series with the Rams with Old Dominion winning the last five outings and 24 of the last 25. The Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth rivalry dates back to the 1969-70 season where the two teams squared off against each other each season until 1979. The rivalry renewed when Virginia Commonwealth joined Old Dominion in the Sun Belt Conference and continued when the Rams joined the CAA for the 1995-96 season. More recently, the Rams snapped a 35-game CAA win streak back on February 6th, 2003 at the Siegel Center. Old Dominion fell, 56-67, in their first CAA loss in nearly two years. Since then, the Lady Monarchs have rattled off five straight wins over Virginia Commonwealth, including a 82-62 CAA opening win back on January 6th of this year.
Last time vs. Virginia Commonwealth: After finishing women's college basketball's toughest non-conference schedule, the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs opened up CAA play with an 82-62 victory over Virginia Commonwealth on January 6th at the Siegel Center. The Lady Monarchs ended a three-game losing streak. ODU would never trail in this contest, racing out to an early 5-0 lead off a Jordan three-pointer and Sherida Triggs basket. That lead would soon swell to 22-10 with 8:12 left in the half after yet another Jordan trey. A jumper by VCU's Vera Chistova would get the Rams within six with 4:38 remaining in the first session, 24-18. However, that would be as close as Virginia Commonwealth would get on this night. An 11-0 run by Old Dominion early in the second half would put the score at 54-29 with 14:39 left in regulation. The run featured five different Lady Monarchs getting baskets. For the game, ODU shot 48.5% from the floor, and drained 43.8% of their three-point attempts (7-16). All five of Jordan's baskets were treys. ODU also outrebounded VCU 36-30, dished out 20 assists to the Lady Rams seven, and won the turnover battle 18-28. ODU also got solid production from their bench, with the substitutes chipping in 29 points altogether off of 11-19 shooting from the floor. Junior forward Paula Muxuri came off the bench to score 10 points and earn a career-high 7 rebounds. Freshman point guard Jazzmin Walters chipped in with nine points and five assists, while sophomore forward Megan Pym scored six points off 3-3 shooting, and pulled down six rebounds. Virginia Commonwealth's Stephanie Merlo shot 3-5 from three-point land and led her team with 13 points. Guards Vera Chistova and LaKea Jones added 12 points apiece. Leading scorer Q was held to six points and eight rebounds.
About William & Mary: The Tribe enters this weekend on a four-game win streak with a 14-10 overall mark and 10-5 record in the CAA. Picked to finish 11th or second to last in the league in the Preseason Poll, the Debbie Taylor coached Tribe is currently in fourth place in the league race and has potential to avoid the Wednesday play-in games come tournament time. William & Mary will host UNC-Wilmington on Friday night before making the trek down 64 for their regular season road contest at the Constant Center on Sunday. In all, four Tribe members are averaging double figures. Sophomore forward Kyra Kaylor continues to lead the Tribe pouring in 18.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. The CAA Player of the Week, Kaylor has won the award three times this season. Sophomore guard/forward Devin James is next on the stat sheet with 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Lizzie Schiel is pouring in 11.1 points and 4.2 boards per game. Schiel was this week's CAA Player of the Week. Schiel averaged 19.0 points per game and added 7.0 rebounds per outing over the weekend. She shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the floor and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from three-point range. She also pulled down 14 rebounds over the two games. In a win over Georgia State, Schiel matched her season high with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. She also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. She poured in 18 points in a win over James Madison on Sunday, shooting 6-10 from the floor and 3-6 from three-point range while grabbing six rebounds. Freshman guard Dani Kell rebounds out the Tribe double figure scorers with 10.1 points along with 5.6 rebounds per game. Kell was recently earned CAA Rookie of the Week honors after averaging 18.0 points and 6.5 rebounds last weekend. The freshman guard poured in a game-high 25 points, one-shy of her career-best, in a win over James Madison and pulled down seven rebounds. In the Tribe's victory over Georgia State, she scored 11 points and added six rebounds.
The Series With William & Mary: Old Dominion holds the all-time series 41-3. The Tribe has not defeated the Lady Monarchs in 29 years with William & Mary's last victory over Old Dominion coming back in the 1975-76 season with an 89-53 win. Since then the Lady Monarchs have been winners of the last 39 contests, including a 77-68 victory in Williamsburg earlier this year in the closest margin between the two teams since 1992.
Last Time Vs. William & Mary: Despite being out shot 44-39 in the second half, the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs slipped by William and Mary 77-68, their closest margin since 1992 back on January 8th. William and Mary opened the contest on fire, burying two consecutive three-pointers to give the Tribe a 6-0 lead just 1:18 into the game, but the Lady Monarchs responded with a 17-6 run over the next six minutes to take a 19-12 lead with 12:11 to go before the break. The margin grew to as high as 10 at 27-17 with 7:27 left to play before a 7-3 Tribe run closed the gap to six. Once again, ODU responded to the Tribe's advances, as it ended the half on an 8-0 run in the final 3:06 to take a 38-24 lead into halftime. In the second half, in which the Tribe outscored the Lady Monarchs 44-39, ODU upped its lead to 15 at 43-28 with 16:37 left before the College exploded on a 16-5 run that closed the lead to four at 48-44 with 11:43 left. From there, W&M could get no closer than four points, but once again it cut the lead to as few as eight after trailing by as much as 12, but the Lady Monarchs converted nine of 12 free throws in the final 1:27 to seal the win. ODU recorded a 73.1% free throw percentage on the game. Three Lady Monarchs put up double digits in the contest, Sherida Triggs and TJ Jordan each recorded 13, while Shahida Williams downed 11 points. Freshman Jazzmin Walters drained all three of her three-pointers she attempted in the game including two NBA style treys from nearly 30 feet out. Old Dominion held a 36-35 rebound advantage, and lead in steals 7-5. The Tribe's Kyra Kaylor pulled down eight rebounds beating out all the other players in that category. William and Mary forced 17 ODU turnovers while only committing 14 and finished with a season-best 20 assists as Lizzie Schiel's six led all players.
Hoops For A Cure: Sunday's game against the Tribe will be the annual "Hoops For A Cure" game as the Lady Monarch join the Tidewater Chapter of the Susan Komen Foundation in the fight against breast cancer. Festivities kick off with a women's health expo beginning at 1:00 p.m. on the plaza. Additionally there will be a Breast Cancer Survivor Reception at 1:00 p.m and survivors will be recognized on the court prior to tip.
Senior Day: Be sure to stay in your seats following the final buzzer of Sunday's William & Mary game as the Old Dominion community wishes its seniors - Lawona Davis, Paula Muxiri, manager Naeemah Young and manager Jenna Rowe, well after participating in their final regular season home game.