MOBILE, Ala. — Old Dominion women's basketball trailed 32-28 at halftime, but a 7-0 run early in the third quarter helped the Monarchs secure a 62-56 win at South Alabama on Saturday afternoon at the Mitch Center.
ODU improves to 9-2 overall and 1-0 to start Sun Belt Conference play. The victory also marked career win No. 100 for head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones, who is in her fourth season leading the program.
The Monarchs led 49-42 at the start of the fourth, but the Jags (7-6, 0-1 SBC) wouldn't go away as a 5-for-5 effort at the line highlighted a 7-0 run that cut ODU's lead to 53-51. That was as close as the home team would get. En'Dya Buford scored a jumper and a layup, Kaye Clark made both of her free throws, and Jordan McLaughlin went 1-for-2 at the line to push the lead to 60-53 with 27 seconds left in the game. USA made some late free throws to make it interesting, but the Jags were forced to foul and McLaughlin hit both of her freebies to wrap up the scoring.
The Monarchs had 11 different players find the scoring column, with three finishing in double figures. McLaughlin went 4-for-8 from the field and knocked down 4-of-6 shots at the free-throw line to turn in a team-high 12 points, and Clark and Buford turned in a pair of 10-point efforts. Simone Cunningham and Brenda Fontana were next with eight points each, and Fontana also led ODU on the glass with seven boards.
ODU combined to shoot 25-for-66 (.379) from the floor, 5-for-18 (.278) from distance, and 7-for-14 (.500) at the line. The Monarchs also forced a season-high 28 turnovers and scored more points off turnovers (24-16), in the paint (38-24), and second-chance points (11-9).
The first quarter remained tight until Buford, Cunningham and McLaughlin scored three-straight layups to put the Monarchs in front, 12-7. A bucket from Jenny Nkem Womsi made it 16-12 at the 3:27 mark, and ODU took a 16-14 advantage into the second quarter.
That's when the Jags offense showed up. Helped by a pair of three-pointers and 4-for-5 shooting at the line, the hosts outscored ODU 18-12 in the second. Halima Salat hit a three ball from the right wing to give ODU a 20-16 lead, but South Alabama put together a 9-2 push to jump ahead, 25-22. A Naomi Smitherman basket and a Jordan Rosier three-pointer then made it 30-24 at the 4:40 mark. Clark and Cunningham then ended the scoring drought for ODU before USA's Emani Burks capped off the opening half with a 2-for-2 effort at the stripe.
Fontana got the Monarchs started in the third quarter with a deep ball from the left wing, then tied the game at 34-34 with another long ball from the top of the arc. ODU then retook the lead on a Cunningham jumper in the paint, and Fontana followed with a layup as ODU went up 38-34 with 5:32 on the clock. USA wrestled back control with five-straight points, but Ivi Nikolova answered with a three from the right corner. Less than a minute later, Mimi McCollister provided another long ball to make it 45-40, and two more baskets from McLaughlin and Clark put ODU up 49-42 heading into the final 10 minutes.
ODU will be back at Chartway Arena for its next two games, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. meeting with Louisiana next Thursday, Jan. 4.
