Dec. 18, 2003
Norfolk, Va. – Shareese Grant led all scorers with 26 points to lead Old Dominion (6-3) to a 67-56 victory over Georgia Tech (6-2) at the Ted Constant Convention Center Thursday afternoon.
While the Jackets focused on the Lady Monarchs’ forward Monique Coker and three-point shooter Myriah Spence, Grant picked up the slack, scoring 14 points in the first half, while the Jackets held Coker and Spence to a combined 16 points in the game. Senior Fallon Stokes recorded her fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points, as she scored 20 while pulling down eight rebounds to lead the Jackets in both categories. She hit 50% from the field and then converted on 2-of-3 from the line.
After the Jackets averaged just 13 turnovers per game coming into the contest, the Lady Monarchs were able to force the Jackets to give the ball up a season-high 22 times in the game.
“I have been proud of the consistency that we have played with all year,” said Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “I felt like we needed to protect the ball today to win, and we weren’t able to do that. The 22 turnovers was very uncharacteristic of our team.”
After falling behind 31-22 at the conclusion of the first half, the Jackets battled back in the second. Tech had a 7-2 run early in the second half to get back into the contest, as the Jackets scored three buckets by center Kasha Terry, and eventually climbed to within four points of the Lady Monarchs with 4:31 remaining on the clock on an April Johnson layup, but were unable to hold on to the lead as Max Nhassengo hit four free throws and two jumpers over the final six minutes to help ODU to the win.
The Jackets began the first half with a 2-0 lead on a layup by Fallon Stokes, and Tech kept the game close midway through the first half, going into the second media timeout at 11:41 with a one-point deficit. The Lady Monarchs then went on a 12-4 run over the next eight minutes to lead 25-16 at the final media timeout at 3:50. They were led by Shareese Grant, who scored 14 points in the frame, and Myriah Spence, with five. Stokes scored the first four baskets for the Jackets and had 10 of Tech’s 22 points going into the locker room.
The Yellow Jackets will continue from Norfolk to New Jersey, where they will take on Princeton in a Sunday afternoon game that will tip at 1 p.m. before taking off for Christmas. The game will be broadcast on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org.
