THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190562
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
On Senior Night, a pair of upperclassmen who have come to epitomize Old Dominion women's basketball put their mark on East Carolina in an 88-43 rout at the ODU field house Tuesday night.
Senior Clarisse Machanguana scored 26 points, many off crowd-pleasing assists from her good buddy and fellow senior Ticha Penicheiro. Penicheiro had 12 assists to go with 12 steals, four more than the Lady Pirates. That also ties a school record.
Penicheiro and Machanguana were honored before the game and presented with flowers at halfcourt along with seniors Stacy Himes, Angie Liston and Jill Berg. Although Tuesday was ODU's last regular-season game at the field house, the home crowd will probably get another glimpse of the seniors as the Lady Monarchs (24-1, 14-0) probably will host two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
``I know we might have a chance to play here again, but Senior Night, it's always a different night,'' Penicheiro said. ``I've got to go and hug the coaches, get my flowers; it's definitely a different night. Time just flies and it seems like I just got here yesterday, and it's time to go already.''
But before Penicheiro and company head into the ODU history books, they could bring the school its first national title in 12 years. And ECU coach Anne Donovan is banking on the Lady Monarchs to be in the Final Four, thanks in part to the maturing of Penicheiro and Machanguana.
``More than anything from two years ago when I was here they've got solid collegiate experience,'' said Donovan, a former assistant to ODU coach Wendy Larry. ``The international game is just so different than the collegiate game; it takes two years to adjust to it. They've both adjusted. They're going to lead the way for them, straight to Cincinnati.''
The Lady Pirates (9-15, 4-10), who must win their next two to avoid the play-in game of next week's CAA Tournament, never could adjust to Penicheiro slamming the ball inside to posts Machanguana and Nyree Roberts for easy layups. The two combined on a 21-of-30 effort from the field with Roberts scoring 19. That included a putback five minutes into the game that gave the junior center her 1,000th career collegiate point.
``Somebody told me about it before the game, today when I was in class,'' said Roberts, who received a game ball from Larry.
Although Larry accused the Lady Monarchs of looking initially lethargic - they led by only seven at the 10:53 mark - it was only a matter of time before the expected runaway began. ODU found little success early on the perimeter against the zone, but once the Lady Monarchs returned to their bread-and-butter inside game, ECU wilted. ODU outscored ECU 25-9 in the final 10 minutes including a 13-0 run that ended with Justine Allpress' 3-pointer with 3:30 left.
``Notoriously we've stayed with Old Dominion the first 10 minutes of the game,'' Donovan said. ``And then we're just outmatched at every position, and Old Dominion's aggressive enough, they're going to attack you eventually.''
With ODU up 44-19 at the break, the second half was mostly formality and a stronger 20 minutes for the Lady Monarchs. ODU shot 56 percent from the floor in that time, boosted by Aubrey Eblin nailing 3 of 4 3-pointers. That gives her 77, an ODU career record. ILLUSTRATION: IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot
ODU's Mery Andrade felt the pain after she was fouled by East
Carolina's Tracey Kelley, right, but the Lady Monarchs put a bigger
hurt on the Lady Pirates - an 88-43 victory.