Old Dominion Women’s Basketball (9-3,1-1 SBC) dropped their Sun Belt home opener to Louisiana 66-61 Thursday night in Norfolk.
The Monarchs took control of the first quarter like they have done in the majority of their games this season. Defense locked down the Cajuns, holding them to just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting. Offensively, ODU went 7-of-14 from the field including two three pointers from Jordan McLaughlin and Mimi McCollister. All was going according to plan at the end of the first quarter with an 18-7 Monarch lead.
Second quarters have been an issue for ODU recently and unfortunately, that trend continued Thursday night. Over the last four games, the Monarchs have been outscored 68-39 in the second quarter.
Louisiana made adjustments to spread the floor offensively and used kick outs to find open shooters on the perimeter. The Cajuns opened the second quarter on a 14-0 run, with all but two points coming from beyond the arc.
Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said after the game, “They’re a complicated team to play against. The scouting is easy because they have aggressive guards and they’re going to play downhill. But what makes it complicated is they tax your discipline, and we were undisciplined in many areas tonight and it showed in a big way.”
After Louisiana took their first lead of the game 21-18, Old Dominion came to life and we saw a back and forth one possession game for the rest of the quarter. The Monarchs went into the locker room with a 29-28 edge.
The Cajuns led by as many as six in the third quarter but the Monarchs got a boost in the final seconds when En’Dya Buford converted an And-1 opportunity just before the buzzer. This pulled ODU within two, ignited the crowd and swung momentum.
Jenny Nkem Womsi tied the game at 45-45 with the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but Louisiana scored on their next two possessions to regain a four point edge.
The Monarchs battled down the stretch, pulling within one possession multiple times. But they just couldn’t hit the shot to pull back in front and Louisiana came away with the 66-61 victory on the road.
Foul calls over the final 5+ minutes didn’t help matters and really prevented ODU from getting into an offensive rhythm. The Cajuns scored 13 of their 21 fourth quarter points at the free throw line, going 13-for-17. Their 17 fourth quarter attempts was more than the Monarchs had in the entire game.
McLaughlin led ODU with a game high 22 points along with four rebounds and three assists. Buford chipped in with nine points, three boards and three assists while Kaye Clark finished with eight points and a game high three steals.
As a team, the Monarchs shot 41.1% (23-for-56) from the field and 22.7% (5-for-22) from beyond the arc. They held a 32-30 edge on the boards and forced 16 turnovers.
Next up for ODU will be a home matchup with Southern Miss this Saturday at 1:00pm. The Golden Eagles are 7-5 on the season with an 0-2 mark in Sun Belt play after losses to Marshall and Coastal Carolina. This is a good team, picked to finish third in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of Old Dominion. As we’ve seen across all sports, this conference is a meat grinder.