THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997 TAG: 9701060137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: 68 lines
Focus and deny.
Those are two favorite words of Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry. Only on Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum, it was her Lady Monarchs who denied and Larry who wasn't focused.
Second-ranked ODU blasted East Carolina 74-36 as the Lady Pirates managed to net only 11 shots from the field. Afterward, the Lady Monarchs surprised Larry with two bunches of red roses to celebrate her 200th coaching victory at the school. Looking startled by the fuss, Larry didn't even realize she was upon the milestone.
``I really had absolutely no idea,'' she said. ``I didn't know where the flowers were going to. I was surprised when they came to me. There's so many things this team has accomplished in early season and we still have so much more, so many goals we've set. You just kind of take the next game, and I really didn't think of it.''
Next on the goal list: eighth-ranked and defending national champion Tennessee, the last nonleague opponent on ODU's schedule. The Lady Monarchs meet the Vols on Tuesday night at the field house, and they might have to do it without sophomore Aubrey Eblin, who went down under the ECU basket writhing in pain with 7:30 remaining in the first half. Eblin said she came down wrong on her left ankle after going up for a rebound and heard a pop.
``It's real tender now,'' said Eblin, on crutches with her ankle taped. ``I can't move it without it hurting. I have to prop it up.''
Playing Tennessee without Eblin would hurt ODU, too, as she is the team's top 3-point specialist. Eblin was integral in ODU's upset over then-No. 1 Stanford, hitting three consecutive treys in the first half.
``Right now we're going to go home, have it X-rayed and say our prayers,'' Larry said.
Eblin's injury marred an otherwise superb defensive effort from the Lady Monarchs, who forced ECU (5-6, 1-1 CAA) into 40 turnovers and held the Lady Pirates to 27 percent shooting and 12 points in the first half. ECU managed just four field goals in the first 20 minutes, and leading scorers Justine Allpress and Jen Cox combined for 12 points.
``Early on we were playing hard, trying,'' said Allpress, who averages 18.4 points. ``Unfortunately, we got intimidated.''
The Lady Pirates played ODU tight for the first 10 minutes, but ODU embarked on a 21-5 run that put the game out of reach. ECU finished without having a player score in double figures. Tracey Kelley, Melanie Gillem and Allpress each had eight.
``We missed some easy shots and that got us rattled,'' ECU coach Anne Donovan said. ``And, unfortunately, against Old Dominion you can't afford to be rattled for a minute.''
Donovan was pleased with her team's effort shutting down ODU's leading scorer, Clarisse Machanguana, who was held to 10 points. But the Lady Pirates could do nothing with Nyree Roberts. Roberts matched her career high of 22 points, which she set Friday night against Richmond, and pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds.
After missing her first three layups, she finally settled down, she said.
``When I first got out there, I was pressed,'' Roberts said. ``I had open layups and I was rushing. I wasn't set to finish. After we took a timeout, I got it together.''
And that's what ODU will need to do to prepare for Tennessee, a team the Lady Monarchs haven't beaten since the 1982-83 season. Larry expects the Vols to come in angry, too, after Sunday's loss to top-ranked Connecticut.
``I know when Pat (Summitt's) teams get outrebounded as bad as they did, she's not a happy camper,'' Larry said. ``Pat always has a plan for her basketball team. And she takes them along systematically. She's not going to change what she's doing because she's looking at the long-term picture. It's a team that has a great deal of Final Four experience. They're just a bomb waiting to explode.''