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Happy New Year Monarch Fans! The ODU women's basketball team will open up Conference USA play on the road against Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. The Lady Raiders are coached by Rick Insell. He is Middle Tennessee's all time winningest basketball coach in school history. Murfreesboro is a tough place to play. ODU is 1-2 on the road against MTSU. It was a desperation three with four seconds left on the clock by Makayla Timmons (who played against us for Hampton) that went in and gave us a very rare upset of the Lady Raiders at home. That might have been Timmons biggest moment at ODU.

This season Middle Tennessee St is 8-4 (5-1 at home). RPI: 57 SOS Rank: 42

@ ECU W 68-66 Record: 3-10 RPI: 236
Vs #13 Kentucky L 52-57 Record: 11-2 RPI: 30
@ Tulane W 64-62 Record: 5-8 RPI: 188
Vs Tennessee Tech W 64-58 Record: 5-5 RPI: 238
Vs Furman W 78-62 Record: 8-5 RPI: 103

Gulf Coast Showcase
Vs Auburn W 73-50 Record: 7-5 RPI: 98
Vs #21 Gonzaga L 50-62 Record: 13-1 RPI: 8
Vs Arizona St L 60-61 Record: 10-3 RPI: 61

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Vs Lipscomb W 70-49 Record: 2-10 RPI: 315
@ Belmont L 57-68 Record: 6-6 RPI: 78
Vs VCU W 86-63 Record: 5-8 RPI: 202
Vs TCU W 82-70 Record: 9-2 RPI: 22
Vs ODU Record: 10-2 RPI: 51

Tough schedule with two teams in the top 25.

The Lady Raiders starting five

11 Hayes, Aislynn G 5'6" Fr 13.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 36.6 FG%, 36.7 3P%, 57.4 FT%, 34.3 mpg
02 Sutton, Taylor G 5'4" So 13.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 29.5 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 66.7 FT%, 33.8 mpg
01 Hayes, Anastasia G 5'7" So 16.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 37.3 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 52.9 FT%, 36.5 mpg
35 Savage, Charity F 6'0" Sr 9.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.8 spg, 57.3 FG%, 12.5 3P%, 61.9 FT%, 34.3 mpg
33 Whitson, Courtney F 6'0" Fr 6.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 37.5 FG%, 26.2 3P%, 60.0 FT%, 27.9 mpg
Top Bench
23 Whittington, Alexis G 5'11" So 4.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 38.0 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 75.0 FT%, 22.8 mpg

Aislynn and Anastasia Hayes are sisters. Anastasia was a transfer from some school called Tennessee where she finished with 6.3 ppg and 3.5 apg. Aislynn has won the National Freshman of the Week honors twice this season.
MTSU is typically known for defense and rebounding. They are still a good rebounding team, but they aren't as tall as in years past. Savage is the player you have to watch out for, as she averages nearly a double double per game on the inside. The rest of them, make sure to guard the perimeter. They don't rotate a lot of players, so they rely on their starters a lot. Which isn't a problem for them. In Savage they have the league's #1 rebounder and in Anastasia they have the league's number two scorer. They are not a good free throw shooting team, and that has cost them games this year.
.
...............,MTSU....ODU
PPG.........67.0........66.3
OPPG......61.5........51.1
FG%........40.3........40.7
OFG%......42.1.......34.0
3P%.........32.9........33.0
3PMG.......8.0.........7.3
O3P%......27.9........23.1
FT%.........58.5.......62.4
FTMG......11.5.......11.1
RPG.........38.4........41.8
ORPG......35.0........35.1
APG.........11.4........12.0
TPG.........16.3.........15.7
SPG.........8.2...........9.7
BPG........4.8...........2.2
Ast/TO ratio:
MTSU: 0.7, ODU: 0.8

On the plus side, ODU is coming off the Anne Donovan Classic where they played fantastic. The team's confidence has to be at an all time high. But how good are these Monarchs? On the road, they have appeared vulnerable. Just how good is this team? People will point to the 10-2 record and go, yes. Others will point to their SOS of 199 and go...are they being challenged enough? I think it's time to learn. MTSU will be a tough first test. A win on the road will answer a lot of questions.

Also it's interesting to note that on MTSU's staff they have a full time statistical analyst. I think that this should be the wave of the future for the women's game. They have a ton of statistical information for the men's game. But it's hard to find data on the women's game. Usually when assistant coaches scout other teams, they look at the stats and video. But it's hard to find reports on what player X likes to shoot from what area of the floor for a high percentage. That I think is going to be the wave of the future.

At the Half. MTSU 36, ODU 26. Paint Points. MTSU 24, ODU 18. Second Chance Points: MTSU 15, ODU 6. ODU hasn't taken one free throw so far. And ODU 2-for-9 from behind the arc. MTSU + 5 in rebounding over ODU. Young with 6 point, 5 boards, 2 blocks.

67-56 ODU wins.

Good win ladies. Always great when both teams win.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

What a win! Points in the paint. ODU 49, MTSU 42. In the second half, they dominate down low 31-18. Along with 12-for-13 from the free throw line. (best FT shooting percentage of the year) But it was the 3rd quarter where the Monarchs shined. 8-for-11 from the field, 72.7 FG%. For the game, Taylor finishes with 15 points, 6 boards. Young 16 points, 10 boards, 3 blocks, Wayne 8 points, 9 boards, Morris 10 points, 4 boards. Great win in a tough place to play Monarchs!

Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

(01-02-2020 09:47 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

Yeah I don't like to think about it. But Ik she'll get a Major school offer eventually.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Great road win!

(01-02-2020 09:48 PM)ODUMONARCHZ1 Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:47 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

Yeah I don't like to think about it. But Ik she'll get a Major school offer eventually.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Its a good thing though. She'll be the first coach Wood has hired that actually was good enough to get hired away for P5 millions. I wish all of our major sports had that problem continuously. Thats what winning will do.

(01-02-2020 10:16 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:48 PM)ODUMONARCHZ1 Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:47 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

Yeah I don't like to think about it. But Ik she'll get a Major school offer eventually.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Its a good thing though. She'll be the first coach Wood has hired that actually was good enough to get hired away for P5 millions. I wish all of our major sports had that problem continuously. Thats what winning will do.

Ask MTSU about what could happen. Hiring coaches is a crapshoot. It can work out fine or it can be a disaster, and often, it doesn’t matter whether the previous coach is getting hired away by a big school or if he is fired.

(01-02-2020 10:33 PM)ODUCoach Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 10:16 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:48 PM)ODUMONARCHZ1 Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:47 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

Yeah I don't like to think about it. But Ik she'll get a Major school offer eventually.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Its a good thing though. She'll be the first coach Wood has hired that actually was good enough to get hired away for P5 millions. I wish all of our major sports had that problem continuously. Thats what winning will do.

Ask MTSU about what could happen. Hiring coaches is a crapshoot. It can work out fine or it can be a disaster, and often, it doesn’t matter whether the previous coach is getting hired away by a big school or if he is fired.

Exactly

(01-02-2020 10:33 PM)ODUCoach Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 10:16 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:48 PM)ODUMONARCHZ1 Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-02-2020 09:47 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Nikki's getting it done. I'll miss her when she's gone, but enjoy it while she's here.

Yeah I don't like to think about it. But Ik she'll get a Major school offer eventually.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Its a good thing though. She'll be the first coach Wood has hired that actually was good enough to get hired away for P5 millions. I wish all of our major sports had that problem continuously. Thats what winning will do.

Ask MTSU about what could happen. Hiring coaches is a crapshoot. It can work out fine or it can be a disaster, and often, it doesn’t matter whether the previous coach is getting hired away by a big school or if he is fired.

No question. But if P5 programs aren't sniffing around to try and hire your coaches away, your team probably isn't winning at a satisfactory rate. My point being, Nikki is very good. She's winning and will have this team in the post season soon. And as a result people will try (and probably will) hire her away. I'd rather have that scenario than 17-20 wins and no post season every year but keep the coach.

Great road win for the Lady Monarchs. Need to keep the mojo rolling. This team has several players that can step up any night.

I was always surprised Wendy Larry with all her success was never poached. Heard she had opportunities, but not enough to make the move. Also know she loved the VaBeach lifestyle.

The reality maybe only a few (2-4) mid-majors HCs get poached each year. That a very small percentage of the +200 schools.

Well if we are smart we will keep nikki

(01-03-2020 10:34 AM)Ashgiodufan Wrote: [ -> ]Well if we are smart we will keep nikki

Won't happen. It will have nothing to do anything that ODU can control. Most P5 schools will offer significantly higher than ODU ever can (or anybody in our league, or past leagues).

Coaches are like the weather: Enjoy him/her when the sun is shining because one day the clouds will roll in and rain will come. The sun is shining on the Old Dominion team, so enjoy.

The win over MTSU was significant. It put the Monarchs at the top of the league standings and puts them in the conversation for league champions. But, it’s one victory. There’s another road game in Birmingham on Saturday. If we win that one, that will be something. Right now, I’m enjoying the coach a lot, the players and this season like no other in a long time.