THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120476
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
For three weeks, the hearts and minds of the Old Dominion women's basketball team have been united towards a single goal: winning the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.
In the process, the Lady Monarchs would have liked nothing better than to whip James Madison.
They got their wish Saturday, holding Madison to just four points in the first 10 minutes enroute to an easy 63-44 victory before 3,801 at the ODU field house.
ODU won its fourth consecutive CAA title.
The Dukes had given ODU its only conference loss during the season, a seven-point victory at home that snapped the Lady Monarchs' 49-game CAA winning streak.
On Saturday, it was a different story.
The title earned the Lady Monarchs an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament which begins on Thursday.
``We had something to prove to ourselves,'' said forward Sarah Willyerd, who scored 11 points and led ODU with five assists. ``Tonight we knew what we had to do.''
ODU's Ticha Penicheiro was named the tournament's most valuable player. Clarisse Machanguana and Nyree Roberts were both named to the all-tournament team.
From the beginning, James Madison (22-7) was at a disadvantage. Reserve forward Heather Hopkins was out with a season-ending knee injury, and All-CAA forward Sarah Schreib was on the bench with a broken right hand.
Less than 90 seconds into play, Dukes point guard Holly Rilinger crumbled to the floor in agony, dislocating the middle finger on her right hand going for a loose ball.
Rilinger later returned but was held to just three points, 10 below her season average.
Old Dominion (27-5) held JMU scoreless for the first 6 1/2 minutes to lead 15-0.
``We looked like we had cement shoes on for the first 10 minutes,'' said JMU coach Sheila Moorman.
Needing an emotional lift, Moorman inserted Schreib into the game at the 14:43 mark. Schreib got the Dukes on the board, fighting through a logjam of defenders to put back a Kara Ratliff miss for JMU's first points.
The Lady Monarchs still held a 15-point lead, 29-14, three minutes before the half. Penicheiro ignited the ODU offense with six points in a span of 44 seconds to push the lead over 20.
``We played some brilliant defense tonight. That was the major difference in this game,'' said ODU coach Wendy Larry.
JMU couldn't put a dent in the lead during the second half and never got closer than 18 points.
The teams played equally sloppy in the second, with ODU outscoring the Dukes, 25-24. The Lady Monarchs committed 13 turnovers in the half - five by Willyerd - to JMU's 12.
Machanguana led all scorers with 14 points. Roberts added 12 and Penicheiro added 10.
Lee, who was named to the all-tournament team along with Ratliff and William and Mary's Aquendine Khasidis, led JMU with 12 points, all in the first half. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Old Dominion's Ticha Penicheiro, right, strips the ball from Daniell
Powell of James Madison. Penicheiro was named the MVP of the CAA
women's basketball tournament.
by CNB