The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

This Monarchs are now on the road. This Thursday they will face off against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. These two teams have a deep history in women’s basketball, having played each in the 1979 AIAW National Championship game in Greenville, South Carolina. ODU fans remember the 75-65 win well. A program doesn’t succeed without remarkable players. La Tech has had three Wade Trophy winners in their history. (Pam Kelly, 1982. Janice Lawrence 1984. Teresa Weatherspoon, 1988) They have had great players with retired numbers and other players who would probably have their number retired on any other team if it wasn’t for their qualifications. One such player is Sheila Ethridge. She was a 5’7” point guard who averaged 25.3 ppg and shot over 40% during the 1990-91 season. She also holds the program record for most points in a game, 47.

Or she did hold the program record until this season. Senior Kierra Anthony scored 50 points in a game that went into OT against Houston. And while scoring 50 points is a remarkable achievement….wait until you hear the full story.

Going into the half, Houston was up by 10 and Anthony had exactly six points. And then, Anthony just took the game over. She scored 14 out of the team’s 23 points in the 3rd quarter, but the team was still down by 11. The fourth quarter, she scored 17 points out of 21 points to help tie the game. In overtime, she scored 13 of the team’s 20 points. Houston as a team only put up 8 points. In 25 minutes of play, she scored 44 points which is just insane. She only shot 2 threes the entire game, going 14-for-14 from the FT line and 15-25 from inside the arc. She just kept driving the ball.

This season the Bulldogs are 9-8 (1-3). They have an RPI of 149 and SOS of 126.
Vs Arkansas Little Rock 58-69 L Record: 7-8 RPI: 127
Vs Houston 100-88 OT W Record: 8-8 RPI: 126
@ Memphis 66-50 W Record: 6-10 RPI: 269
@ Arkansas St 80-70 W Record: 8-7 RPI: 122
@ Wichita St 56-70 L Record: 7-9 RPI: 258
ASU Classic
@ Arizona State 44-80 L Record: 12-4 RPI: 15
Vs Alabama 79-62 W Record: 9-8 RPI: 114
Vs Southeastern Louisiana 72-54 W Record: 6-6 RPI: 217
Vs Ole Miss 80-71 W Record: 7-11 RPI: 189
Roo Holiday Classic
Missouri State 70-82 L Record: 7-7 RPI: 134
@ UMKC 70-80 L Record: 6-7 RPI: 179
@ McNeese St 89-48 W Record: 0-12 RPI: 345
Vs North Texas 54-65 L Record: 7-6 (3-1) RPI: 200
Vs Rice 51-61 L Record: 13-3 (4-0) RPI: 119
@ UAB 73-68 W Record: 14-2 (3-1) RPI: 170
@ Middle Tennessee 38-75 L Record: 13-4 (4-0) RPI: 62
Vs ODU Record: 11-5 (2-2) RPI: 73

Yes La Tech has one conference win so far. But beating preseason favorite UAB on the road is a big upset for them.

Bulldogs Starting Five
04 Kierra Anthony 5’9” G Sr 24.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 47.8 FG%, 28.8 3P%, 92.7 Ft%, 30.5 mpg
22 Grayson Bright 5’10” G Jr 5.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 33.0 FG%, 12.0 3P%, 75.0 FT%, 23.5 mpg
25 Nikki McDonald 6’0” G Rd Jr 4.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.9 apg, 38.9 FG%, 38.9 3P%, 66.7 FT%, 14.6 mpg
03 Kierra Lang 5’9” G Jr 0.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 21.4 FG%, 0.00 3P%, 1.000 FT%, 15.2 mpg
32 Zhanae Whitney 6’0” F Sr 4.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 59.1 FG%, 0.00 3P%, 74.2 FT%, 18.8 mpg
Top Bench
10 Amber Dixon 5’8” G So 5.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 39.7 FG%, 35.7 3P%, 77.8 FT%, 16.4 mpg
24 Taylor Stahly 5’7” G Sr 9.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.9 apg, 36.4 FG%, 32.4 3P%, 88.2 FT%, 29.4 mpg
01 Raizel Guinto 5’7” G So 8.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 35.9 FG%, 31.5 3P%, 69.4 FT%, 20.2 mpg

This is a team that uses a different line-up almost every game. Anthony and Bright are the only constant starters on the team. But they use every player on their bench. For the past two seasons Anthony has been second team all-Conference USA . This season she is trying to win Player of the year awards. Her 23.1 ppg leads the conference. Nobody is even averaging over 20 ppg. She is money at the line, as she is the only player in the conference shooting above 90% from the line. Stahly is a three-point machine. Almost all her shots are beyond the arc.

Inside the Numbers.
………….LAT……ODU
PPG… .70.1…….71.5
OPPG…68.4……65.8
FG%.....40.9……39.3
OFG%...42.1……37.8
3P%......29.2…….31.6
O3P%....31.0…….29.3
3PMG….5.4………7.1
FT%.....73.8…….62.9
FTMG..14.2……14.6
RPG……38.1……43.4
ORPG…39.6…….38.5
APG……12.9……..12.5
TPG……15.3………14.3
SPG……7.1…………8.1
BPG……2.0…………3.0
Ast/TO ratio:
LaTech: 0.8, ODU: 0.9

What makes them dangerous is that Anthony is a beast inside. Even though La Tech isn’t a great three point shooting team, we have to guard them. If the threeball starts dropping early, that will open up the lanes for Anthony…and make it a long night for ODU.

This is one of those games where hopefully ODU can win on the road. Our defense is strong, but it will be tested with Anthony.

Con USA standings.
Rice 4-0
Middle Tenn St 4-0
WKU 3-0
UAB 3-1
North Texas 3-1
Marshall 2-1
ODU 2-2
Charlotte 2-2
UTSA 1-2
UTEP 1-2
La Tech 1-3
Southern Miss 0-4
FAU 0-4
FIU 0-4

LaTech is a seasoned team with a lot of seniors and juniors, versus ODU’s youth. Hopefully ODU will be able to play its usual aggressive defense without fouling too much. This looks like a winnable game. Good luck.

Based upon Doug Ripley's tweets, the travel for the ladies to get to Ruston seems like a real pain in the butt and longer than you'd think.

(01-17-2019 12:51 PM)Big Bluezilla Wrote:  Based upon Doug Ripley's tweets, the travel for the ladies to get to Ruston seems like a real pain in the butt and longer than you'd think.

Nothing new. Place has not moved and always been a pain to get to. I remember both Marianne Stanley and Wendy Larry complaining about that trip.

Good Luck to the Road Warriors tonight. I know we don't play much zone, but this may be a good time for it. 2-3 trapping zone. Ball pressure, ball pressure, ball pressure. Obviously the zone will help keep us out fool trouble, make them be patient and shot from the perimeter. The Trap keep our defense in aggressive mode. Go Blue !!!

After watching her against NCST, I'm one who believes Ann Jernigan can help this team. She's got game and I believe with more PT, she'll be a force for us from 3 and with the dribble drive and score or kick, or dish. Any thoughts on her game. Of course playing time must be earned in practice.

La Techs win over UAB shows that you can't underestimate ANY TEAM in C-USA, EVER !!!

Jernigan IMHO runs the offense very poorly, too much JUCO in her

(01-17-2019 04:45 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  Jernigan IMHO runs the offense very poorly, too much JUCO in her

Where to you think she can improve, perhaps she would be better at the 2. She has a nice shot and can get to the basket.

Alright Road Warriors! Monarchs 70, La Tech 59. Victoria Morris continues her hot streak, scoring 24 points thanks to 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and chipped in 4 assists. Amari Young scores 17 off the bench with a team high 7 boards and two steals. Taylor Edwards gave us 5 points, 7 assists. They held Anthony to 12 points. Solid win. (and much needed)

So far around the league.
WKU 94, FIU 82.
Charlotte 54, Southern Miss 65
Marshall 72, FAU 67