THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601060393
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The Lady Monarchs took a lead the size of Texas and never looked back, coasting past the Longhorns 98-61 Friday night at the ODU field house.
Old Dominion (9-1), ranked No. 16 in this week's Associated Press poll, held Texas (4-5) to 14 percent shooting in the first period, 0 for 10 from 3-point range, in building a 51-15 halftime lead. Meanwhile, ODU shot 63 percent for the game and was 6 of 7 in 3-pointers.
``This was really an intensive defensive effort by the Lady Monarchs,'' said ODU coach Wendy Larry. ``When I look at the cumulative stats, it was even more unbelievable.''
As was the performance by ODU point guard Ticha Penicheiro, who finished with 15 points, a career-best 12 assists and three steals. Penicheiro brought the crowd of 2,378 to its feet with several no-look passes.
``Tonight was one of my best games,'' Penicheiro said. ``Back home I used to play like this. I told myself last year and this year that I didn't find myself. I think I'm finally finding myself.''
Penicheiro's performance continued in the second half with more vintage feeds and a classic bucket of her own - a scoop layup that drew the foul for a three-point play to put the Lady Monarchs up 84-45.
Longhorns coach Jody Conradt, the winningest coach in women's basketball history with 660 victories, called ODU's defensive effort ``stymying.''
``It started out at the point guard position,'' Conradt said. ``We were outsized there and got whipped there.''
After Danielle Viglione's jumper cut ODU's lead to 7-5, Texas failed to hit another shot from the field for more than 10 minutes. By then, ODU had built a 33-9 lead and Texas looked flat and flustered. Even Conradt didn't know what to say, sending her team back out to the floor with 11 minutes remaining in the break.
``I don't know any 50-point plays,'' she said. ``I felt we could use the practice more than the talk.''
About the only drama left was whether the Lady Monarchs would break the 100-point barrier, something no team has done against Texas in 19 years. ODU had two possessions in the waning seconds, but both of Esther Benjamin's shots circled the rim. Shonda Deberry led all scorers with 21.
The only bad news for Old Dominion came at the 2:42 mark in the first half when Mery Andrade partially separated her left shoulder in a scurry for the ball. Andrade, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, returned briefly in the second half before Larry pulled her out. Sarah Willyerd, who injured her back Tuesday against Richmond, played the first three minutes of the game. Her status is day-to-day. ILLUSTRATION: Old Dominion's Ticha Penicheiro wraps up Texas' Amie Smith while
Clarisse Machanguana watches. Penicheiro finished with 15 points, 12
assists and three steals.
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB