THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701130147
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 64 lines
Could the Old Dominion women's basketball team beat a Division III men's squad?
William and Mary coach Trina Thomas Patterson thinks so.
``And maybe some Division IIs that don't have a lot of size,'' she suggested.
Whatever the case, second-ranked ODU was clearly a class above the Tribe on Sunday afternoon in a 79-36 blowout. While William and Mary struggles to find its first win in the conference, the Lady Monarchs (13-1, 3-0) continue to run roughshod over CAA opponents, winning by an average of 39 points.
Nyree Roberts led the way, hitting 7 of 8 from the field for 17 points to go with 17 rebounds, all picked up without committing a personal foul. The rebounds are a career high for the junior and the most for any Lady Monarch this season. Also in scoring double figures: Mery Andrade with a game-high 18 points and Clarisse Machanguana with 17.
``I've never seen Nyree Roberts work so hard on the glass at both ends of the floor,'' said ODU coach Wendy Larry. ``She ruled, she rolled; she watched the flight of the basketball. There were times that she rebounded on a missed shot that didn't hit rim. She just followed the ball in and collected it.''
ODU dominated from the opening tip, leading 21-2 eight minutes into the game and 47-22 at the half.
The gap only widened in the second half with the Tribe shooting 20 percent to make it 26 percent for the game. Leading scorer Julie Sommer was held without a point, and Bridget Wagner, second on the team in scoring, had two. The Tribe (3-9, 0-4), outsized at every position, was also outrebounded by 25.
Still, Patterson, winless in her six years at William and Mary against ODU, was able to find bright spots. The Tribe turned the ball over 19 times to ODU's 20, and the Lady Monarchs missed all 11 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
``We can't look at the score, but we can look at the fact that we didn't turn the ball over, and that's one of their fortes,'' Patterson said. ``And going in, our game plan was if they were going to beat us, our goal was to make them hit outside shots. They didn't do that that well today.''
But the problem, Patterson conceded, was that ODU hit from inside with ease.
``When Roberts or Machanguana catch the ball on the sweet spot on the floor, it's a bucket,'' she said. ``Physically, just the poundage and the size, we couldn't match up. . . . In all the years we've played them, this is the best we've done.''
ODU's outside shooting was also hurt with 3-point bomber Aubrey Eblin out of the lineup. Eblin sprained her left ankle a week ago and played sparingly in ODU's victory over Tennessee last Tuesday. She should be ready for Friday night's game at James Madison.
And while Sunday's game goes in the books as another CAA rout, for ODU's Angela Carter it is a game worth remembering. The sophomore walk-on from Oscar Smith saw her first action of the season and finished with one point and two rebounds.
``I was glad to be a part of it,'' she said. ``It's like a dream come true.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
ODU's Clarisse Machanguana is fouled by William and Mary's Nekisa
Cooper. The ODU inside attack continues to devastate the opposition,
as Machanguana 17's points was matched by frontline mates Nyree
Roberts (17 points, 17 rebounds) and Mery Andrade (18 points). The
trio was a combined 21 of 28 from the field.