CSNbbs

The ODU LM enter the final home stand of the season with the sixth overall seed in the standings. This is worth a first round bye, which is important for the tournament. Let’s take a look at the standings.

1. UTEP 16-1
2. Middle Tenn 13-3
3. WKU 13-3
4. Charlotte 10-6
5. La Tech 9-7 (vs Marshall)
6. ODU 8-8
7. Marshall 7-9 (@ La Tech)
8. SMU 7-9 (vs WKU)
9. Rice 7-9 (@ Charlotte)

Right now ODU has a one game lead over three teams. So you see just how small our margin of error is right now.

The last time the LM played North Texas, they won by 17 on the road. North Texas is one of two Con USA teams to have beaten a ranked team, when they beat #17 Oklahoma on the road. That is a big win for the program. As far as I’m concerned though, North Texas beating SMU by two on senior night was the team’s biggest win of the season. Because that is a big reason why the LM are in sole possession of sixth place right now.

North Texas is 10-16 (5-11) RPI Rank: 236. SOS Rank: 175

Vs San Francisco 16-11 (9-9) 98 61-69 L
at Oklahoma 19-9 (10-7) 35 61-57 W
at Texas St. 10-15 (7-10) 213 62-64 L
Vs Arizona 12-18 (3-15) 124 44-51 L
Vs SMU 12-17 (7-11) 191 60-57 W
Vs Weber St. 16-9 (10-6) 196 38-45 L
Vs IUPUI 18-9 (11-5) 114 68-67 W
at Iona 20-11 (16-4) 120 51-62 L
at La Salle 5-24 (2-13) 277 69-63 W
at Incarnate Word 3-19 (0-5) 329 62-55 W
Vs UTSA 7-18 (5-12) 263 68-58 W
Vs UTEP 24-2 (16-1) 22 67-75 L
at Rice 8-19 (7-9) 225 97-100 L
at Marshall 15-10 (7-9) 155 71-63 W
at W. Kentucky 21-5 (13-3) 42 53-65 L
Vs Middle Tenn. St. 19-8 (13-3) 60 52-76 L
Vs UAB 13-14 (6-10) 147 53-51 W
Vs Rice 8-19 (7-9) 225 73-79 L
at Southern Miss 13-13 (7-9) 152 42-62 L
at Louisiana Tech 13-13 (9-7) 168 71-77 L
Vs Old Dominion 12-16 (8-8) 154 48-65 L
Vs Charlotte 17-10 (10-6) 77 70-82 L
at Florida Intl. 4-23 (2-14) 309 58-40 W
at Florida Atlantic 12-14 (5-11) 178 61-71 L
Vs Louisiana Tech 13-13 (9-7) 168 67-78 L
Vs Southern Miss 13-13 (7-9) 152 57-55 W
@ ODU 12-16 (8-8) RPI: 154

Starting Five
#23 Acheil Tac 6’2” F Sr 11.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 0.3 apg, 55.2 FG%, 82.8 Ft%, 28.2 mpg
#02 Teadra Jones 5’9” G Sr 6.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, 32.9 FG%, 26.2 3P%, 62.5 FT%, 23.8 mpg
#03 Kelsey Criner 5’7” G Jr 13.0 5.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, 42.7 FG%, 40.3 3P%, 65.7 FT%, 34.2 mpg
#10 Kasiney Williams 5’1” G Sr 2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 25.0 FG%, 26.7 3P%, 62.5 FT%, 22.8 mpg
#14 Candice Adams 5’8” G Jr 11.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 37.0 FG%, 31.9 3P%, 76.5 Ft%, 30.1 mpg
Top Bench
#20 Terra Ellison 5’11” G Jr 10.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.1 apg, 37.8 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 70.0 FT%, 34.0 mpg

Tac plays under the rim and is strong on offensive boards. Adams, Ellison, Criner, and Orianna Shillow are three point shooters. Criner is the star of the team who sets the table.

Conference only stats.
………..NTU……ODU
PPG…....62.8…….66.2
OPPG…..68.2…….63.2
FG%.....42.1…….41.1
OFG%...42.2…….39.5
3P%......31.5…….27.5
O3P%....31.7…….29.4
3PMPG…..4.6……..4.9
FT%......67.7…….67.2
FTMPG...11.3…….13.4
RPG……..36.0……40.8
ORPG…..35.0……34.2
APG……..11.5……12.6
TPG……..19.6……16.8
SPG……..7.1………7.4
BPG……..1.5………3.4
Ast/TO ratio:
NTU: 0.6….ODU: 0.8

These last two games are vital for the LMs. When you enter a tournament, you want to be playing your best basketball. We didn't see that against UTSA. These last games aren't just important from a wins standpoint. They are also important for building the team to the point that they are ready for the tournament.

Final Score: ODU 62, NT 55. Before I talk about the game, just want to dish on some other scores around Con USA.

UTSA upsets nationally ranked UTEP 69-64.
WKU beats SMU 54-53.
ChA beats Rice 68-63.
Marshall 54, La Tech 52

With today's ODU win and La Tech's loss, we are now tied with La Tech for fifth place. (they have the tie breaker though) On Saturday La Tech plays WKU. It will be senior game for La Tech, but a tough game. The LM have a chance to grab fifth place if we beat Rice.

For ODU, Simms exploded for 33 points and 7 boards. She was strong at the FT line going 10-for-12. And she trimmed a 10 point deficient in the final minute of the first quarter scoring 7 straight points. Honestly she was huge for us tonight. (she also had a moment where she reminded us all of the women's 10 second rule at a key moment in the game....no one is perfect) GG had 9 points, Young 4 points and 8 boards, Ajemba had 8 points and 8 boards.

The Mean Green played...well a mean game as they were very aggressive on defense. Notice the score in the third quarter. ODU scores 10, NTU scores 8. Which is pretty low for basketball. It was a display of rebounding for NTU in the 3rd quarter (in that quarter 11 of team's 34) and defense for ODU.

If Senior game wasn't exciting enough, remember Simms final words when asked if she is looking forward to Saturday's game against Rice: "I want payback".

The best thing about the game was the attendance listed in the box score. It said 1663. I was there for the first half and the number then was closer to 663 and I didn't see any great influx of fans as I left to listen to the men's game. And let's renew Karen for a few more years. She is certainly a success on the court and at the box office. Truly, how the mighty have fallen.