Box Score
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NORFOLK, Va. — Jessica Canady had game-highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds as the No. 23/20 Old Dominion women's basketball team defeated Norfolk State 97-54 on Sunday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. It was the first meeting between the two teams in almost 26 years.
ODU (4-2) opened the game on a 15-0 run and led by 20, 25-5, with 10:23 left in the first half. The Lady Monarchs led by as many as 25, 41-16 after a layup by Canady with 1:16 left in the opening period. NSU (0-4) went into the half down 44-20.
The Lady Monarchs opened things up in the second half, scoring 53 points. The Spartans found a better offensive rhythm, posting 34 second-half points, but could not overcome the large first-half deficit.
ODU dominated just about every aspect of the game. The Lady Monarchs shot 45.5 percent (34-of-75) from the field and 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the free-throw line. They outrebounded NSU 67-37, forced 30 Spartan turnovers and had 18 assists and 18 steals.
The Spartans hit 21 of their 67 shots from the field (31.3 percent) and were 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the charity stripe. They still struggled with fouling, however, as they were over the limit with over nine minutes left in the first half and more than seven in the second. They committed a season-high 32 fouls.
Tiffany Green had 21 points and eight boards for ODU. Jazzmin Walters had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists and Jasmine Parker had 12 points and three rebounds.
One bright spot for NSU was the play of freshman guard Whitney Long (Raleigh, N.C.). Long, who missed the first three games of the season because of an illness, racked up 19 points and five steals off the bench in her Spartan debut. For the game, Long was 8-of-20 from the field, including 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Ebony Gibbs (Petersburg, Va.) scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds and had two assists for NSU. Sophomore forward Danelle Tate (Stafford, Va.) had seven points, a team-high six rebounds and added three steals.
The Spartans open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play this Saturday at North Carolina A&T. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
