ODU women’s basketball loses nail-biter to UTSA, 52-51

Jennie Simms scored 32; however, a made Roadrunner free-throw with just six seconds left in the contest lifted UTSA (12-12, 7-5) over the ODU Lady Monarchs (13-9, 6-5) by a score of 52-51 on Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Simms hauled down nine rebounds to go along with her game-high 32 points. Ije Ajemba chipped in four points, 11 rebounds and four blocks on the night.

The Lady Monarchs held a 6-5 lead at the first media timeout, which occurred at the 15:56 mark. ODU’s Jennie Simms scored eight of the Lady Monarchs first 12 points, as UTSA jumped out to a 16-12 advantage with 9:21 left in the opening half. The Roadrunners stretched its lead to as much as 11 (25-14) on a Tesha Smith layup with 6:10 showing on the first half’s game-clock.

Old Dominion then went on a 9-0 run over a 2:49 span to cut its deficit to two points, 25-23, with 2:49 remaining in the first 20 minutes of action, before the Roadrunners would take a 28-27 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Simms led all first half scorers with 19 points on 7-14 shooting from the floor. Ije Ajemba grabbed a half-high six rebounds. Ashley Spaletta led UTSA with seven first half points.

In a first half which experienced five lead changes and two ties, UTSA’s bench outscored ODU’s, 17-2. For the half, Old Dominion shot 11-31 (35.5%) from the floor, 1-11 (9.1%) from three and 4-7 (57.1%) from the free-throw line. The Roadrunners connected on 11-28 (39.3%) from the floor, 3-8 (37.5%) from deep and 3-4 (75%) from the charity stripe.

UTSA led 34-32 at the first media timeout of the second half, which occurred at the 15:32 mark. The Roadrunners held onto a 41-38 advantage at the second media timeout of the final 20 minutes (11:40).  Old Dominion reclaimed the lead by the second to last media timeout of the contest, taking a 46-45 lead with 7:56 remaining in regulation.

The Lady Monarchs held a 51-48 lead with 4:06 to play in the contest, before UTSA tied the game at 51-51 with exactly one minute to play. On the next possession, the Roadrunners managed to stop Old Dominion regaining possession. With just six seconds left in the ballgame, UTSA’s Tesha Smith was fouled and made one of her two FT’s, giving the Roadrunners a 52-51 victroy.

UTSA’s bench outscored ODU’s 30-10, in a game which experienced a total of 11 lead changes and seven ties.

For the contest, Old Dominion shot 33.9% (19-56) from the floor, 18.8% (3-16) from three and 76.9% (10-13) from the charity stripe. UTSA connected on 32.8% (19-58) from the floor, 35.7% (5-14) from deep and 60% (9-15) from the free-throw line.

 

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY MONARCHS

The Lady Monarchs remain at home for the HOOPS FOR A CURE ballgame on Sat., Feb. 14, against UTEP (2:00 p.m.).