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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- So much for Old Dominion's
vulnerability.
The Lady Monarchs (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 14 AP) rebounded from a close quarterfinal victory
over George Mason on Thursday with an 89-60 thrashing of East
Carolina on Friday night to advance to the championship of the
Colonial Athletic Association tournament.
"Collectively we weren't happy with our performance
yesterday," said Natalie Diaz, who led the charge against the Lady
Pirates with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. "We kind
of used that as a little spark. We came in so focused today that we
were able to do things that we weren't able to do yesterday."
Essentially, that amounted to a lot of everything as Old
Dominion (26-4) extended its winning streak against CAA teams to
101 games and moved within one of setting an NCAA record with its
ninth consecutive conference tournament title.
The Texas women won eight straight Southwest Conference crowns
from 1983-90, and Old Dominion will take a 26-0 record in its CAA
tournament history into the potential tiebreaker Saturday against
North Carolina-Wilmington, which beat James Madison 65-62.
The Lady Monarchs shot 53.4 percent, outrebounded East Carolina
48-28 and held all-CAA first team forward Danielle Melvin to one
point and five rebounds.
"They did a perfect job on me," said Melvin, who came in
averaging 16.2 points and 8.3 rebounds. "Wherever I turned it felt
like I turned into a wall."
Old Dominion, meantime, could do almost nothing wrong. They
opened a 30-9 lead after 10½ minutes, led 45-29 at halftime and by
at least 16 the rest of the way.
"We knew with our limited numbers and lack of size, we were
going to really have to fight and claw for everything," Lady
Monarchs coach Wendy Larry said. "We talked about going to war to
advance, and they went to war.
"Our five starters from the jump attacked and we didn't let
up."
East Carolina (15-14), playing in its final CAA tournament
before a move to Conference USA in two years, was eliminated by Old
Dominion for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Lady
Pirates lost 73-67 in the championship.
Coach Dee Gibson said she watched the Lady Monarchs struggle
against George Mason on Thursday and knew that would spell trouble
for their semifinals foe.
"I looked at my assistant, and I didn't tell this to our
players, but I looked at her and said, `I feel sorry for the team
that has to play them tomorrow,"' she said. "I turned out to be
us, but I knew they would be ready to play."
The Lady Monarchs took control early, running of 25 of 30 points
in one early stretch to turn a 5-4 game into a 30-9 runaway. Diaz
hit four jumpers in the burst, and Old Dominion was a combined
12-for-16 from the field in the run.
"It was all about focus for us," the senior forward said.
The Lady Monarchs, playing without scoring and rebounding leader
Lucienne Berthieu because of a sprained right shoulder, got 16
points each from Okeisha Howard and Sharron Francis, 15 from
Hamchetou Maiga and 14 from Diaz and Kim Giddens. Point guard Alli
Spence added 10 points, seven assists and three steals.
"They're better (without Berthieu)," Gibson said, "because
they know they have to be better. They know everybody has to step
up without their All-American."
Rosalyn Canady led the Lady Pirates with 20 points and Waynetta
Veney had 17. East Carolina shot just 37 percent (20-for-52) and
had 16 turnovers.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
East Carolina Clubhouse
Old Dominion Clubhouse
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