ODU Women’s Basketball (12-5, 4-3 SBC) finished their four game road stretch with a 2-2 split after falling 72-64 at James Madison on Saturday. The Monarchs return home Thursday for a 6:30pm match up with App State before hosting Georgia State on Saturday at 1:00pm.
This was a tightly contested and physical game throughout. But in the end, an off shooting night for ODU was the difference. The Monarchs shot just 31% (22-for-71) from the field and 17.2% (5-for-29) beyond the arc. JMU hit 48.8% (21-for-43) of their field goals and 50% (4-for-8) from three.
Another key factor in this one, fouls and free throw attempts. Old Dominion was whistled for 30 fouls to James Madison’s 19 and the Dukes held a 38-18 advantage in free throw attempts. ODU intentionally fouled just twice in the final seconds.
Part of that foul discrepancy is a result of the Dukes preventing the Monarchs from getting dribble penetration and entry passes to the interior on many possessions. They were forced to take 29 threes, 11 more than their per game average this season, and only knocked down five.
With one minute to go in the second quarter, the Monarchs trailed 38-29 before En’Dya Buford drained a three. Mimi McCollister then forced a turnover and Buford converted a layup at the other end to pull ODU within four at the break.
JMU led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but the Monarchs continued to battle and chip away at the lead.
With just over six and half minutes remaining, ODU scored six consecutive points over a 40 second span to cut the deficit to 61-57. But that’s as close as they would get.
Buford led the Monarchs with 18 points along with five rebounds and three assists. Brenda Fontana added 10 points and three rebounds while Kaye Clark had nine points and two boards.