STATESBORO, Ga. — In a battle between one of the Sun Belt's top offensive squads and one of league's top defensive teams, it was Old Dominion women's basketball that came away with a 70-50 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Tied at 16-16 at the end of the first quarter, the Monarchs (12-3, 4-1 Sun Belt) started to pull away in the second as En'Dya Buford and Jenny Nkem Womsi opened the quarter with back-to-back layups. Mimi McCollister then earned a trip to the line and made all three of her free throws to push ODU's lead to 23-18. A Jordan McLaughlin three-pointer highlighted a 7-0 run that made it 32-23, and a jumper by McLaughlin and a free throw from Brenda Fontana capped off the first half as the Monarchs led the Eagles (13-4, 3-2) at the break, 35-25.
ODU outscored the home team 16-10 in the third quarter and 19-15 in the fourth as Georgia Southern couldn't find its way back into the game. ODU's largest lead was 22 points as a Fontana three-pointer capped off another 7-0 run that made it 62-40 with 4:19 left in the fourth.
McLaughlin scored 12 points as she shot 4-for-6 from the field, 1-for-2 from distance, and 3-for-4 at the line. The Charlotte, North Carolina native also grabbed five rebounds and had two assists with two steals. Also scoring 12 points was Fontana, who went 4-for-6 from the floor, was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and was 1-for-2 at the line. The junior from Moreno, Argentina added two boards, one block and one steal to her totals.
Nnenna Orji followed with eight points and five rebounds, Buford and McCollister turned in a pair of seven-point efforts, and Kaye Clark set a new season high with seven rebounds. ODU had 12 different players find the scoring column as the Monarchs scored 70 or more points for the fourth time this season.
ODU shot 25-for-57 (.439) on the afternoon, 5-for-16 (.313) from the perimeter, and 15-for-22 (.682) at the line. The Monarchs edged the Eagles in points off turnovers (26-13), points in the paint (34-18), second-chance points (14-7), fast-break points (14-6) and points off the bench (32-14).
The Monarchs also out-rebounded the hosts (42-37) and committed fewer turnovers (21-23). ODU held GS, which came into the game ranked 23rd in the country in scoring with 80.8 points per game, to its fewest points scored this season.
Terren Ward, named the Sun Belt Player of the Week for the fourth time on Tuesday, was held to just 16 points after averaging 23.6 ppg. ODU's defense limited her to just eight points in the first half.
Up next for ODU is a trip to Huntington, West Virginia next Thursday for a 6 p.m. game at Marshall.
ODU defense too much for Georgia Southern
ODU outscored the home team 16-10 in the third quarter and 19-15 in the fourth as Georgia Southern couldn't find its way back into the game.
