THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 29, 1995 TAG: 9511290570
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Although there was a time when the Old Dominion women's basketball program was routinely among the top teams in the country, it's been a decade since the Lady Monarchs won a national championship. While the season is still young, ODU's current squad is drawing favorable comparisons to that 1984-85 team from at least one reputable source.
Radford head coach Luby Lichonczak, who lost to ODU in the Dial Classic last weekend, was an assistant coach under Marianne Stanley when the Lady Monarchs won their most recent national championship. That team finished 31-3, and, according to Lichonczak, ODU's current squad has the same kind of talent, plus an added advantage.
``We were never that big,'' Lichonczak said. ``We had (Donna) Harrington and (Adrienne) Goodson, but they were both 6-foot on a good day. Both were very skilled, but that club didn't match up'' height-wise.
This year, the Lady Monarchs can rotate in three low-post players who are at least 6-foot-3 - Clarisse Machanguana (6-5), Esther Benjamin (6-4) and Nyree Roberts (6-3).
The perimeter isn't exactly short either. Mery Andrade (6-1) can play anywhere on the floor, and wings Stacey Himes (5-10) and Sarah Willyerd (5-9) play bigger than their size would dictate.
``When you're playing against good teams, you can't teach players to be big and take up space, and those things make a difference,'' Lichonczak said.
ODU plays at California today before traveling to 11th-ranked Stanford on Friday.
IN THE ZONE: Down the stretch in ODU's 67-64 upset of then-No. 2 Georgia on Sunday, the Lady Bulldogs used a defensive scheme the Lady Monarchs might be seeing a good deal of this year - the zone.
Holding a 62-58 lead with less than three minutes left, Georgia switched from a pressure man-to-man defense to the zone to limit ODU's effectiveness inside.
While the strategy might have worked on Machanguana, who missed two of her three final shots, the Lady Monarchs compensated by stepping up their defense and hitting the clutch 3-pointer.
``I think this team is pretty confident against the zone,'' coach Wendy Larry said. ``The whole object is to get players to read the defense and take the ball to areas on the floor were two defenders have to play them.''
ALL-TIME LADY MONARCHS: On the strength of three national titles, Old Dominion has been ranked eighth in the all-time Associated Press women's basketball poll.
The poll was tabulated by compiling the final AP rankings from the 19 years the wire service has featured a women's poll. In that time, the Lady Monarchs were ranked No. 1 during their championship seasons (1978-79, 1979-80 and 1984-85) and in the poll's top five on three other occasions.
Tennessee occupied the top spot, followed by Louisiana Tech, Texas, Long Beach State, Maryland, Penn State, N.C. State, ODU and Georgia. Auburn and Stephen F. Austin tied for 10th. by CNB