THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090542
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Preseason exhibitions are the perfect time for a basketball coach to experiment with the offense. If Old Dominion's performance Wednesday against Latvia is any indication, the Lady Monarchs need no adjustment.
Starting forwards Clarisse Machanguana and Esther Benjamin combined for 38 points and Nyree Roberts added 18 off the bench as ODU hammered Latvia 106-45.
``Our strength this year is our post play - we're developing our game from the inside out,'' said Lady Monarchs coach Wendy Larry. ``This is one of the most unselfish squads I've had. They're looking for the inside players and making a concerted effort to get the ball to them.''
Eighteen of ODU's first 22 points came from underneath the basket.
Machanguana, a junior who was an All-American honorable mention and last season's player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association, hit 11 of 14 shots for a game-high 24 points.
The preseason pick to repeat as player of the year in the CAA, Machanguana finished 16th in the nation last season in field goal percentage (.599).
During the offseason Machanguana competed for her native Mozambique in the African Championships, pacing the team to a silver medal.
``She's a lot stronger and much fitter this year. She's worked hard on her conditioning,'' said Larry.
The Lady Monarchs' inside trio cleaned up on the glass as well as from the field. Machanguana and Benjamin each grabbed 11 rebounds, while Roberts added 10.
Roberts also starred from the foul line, hitting 12 of 15. Last season the sophomore hit just 41 percent of her free throws.
``Some of the emphasis we put on the post players is they've got to be good free throw shooters,'' said Larry. ``Because when they don't get the shots, they're going to draw the fouls.''
Mery Andrade scored 16 points and Ticha Penicheiro added 12 assists for the Lady Monarchs, who open the regular season on Nov. 25 against Radford as hosts of the Dial Classic tournament. Second-ranked Georgia and Southern Methodist are also in the field. by CNB