ODU Lady Monarchs upsets 3 seed UNT 71-66 in the First Round of the Conference USA WBB tournament in Frisco, Texas. It was a back and forth game in the first half and ODU held a slim 1 point lead, 29-28 at halftime.
The Lady Monarchs rebounded the ball extremely well in the 3rd quarter and shot over 50% in the 2nd half to eliminate UNT and earn a date with 2 seed Charlotte in the quarterfinals. ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones stressed how important it is to not only rely on your athleticism but to use the right technique to box out and rebound the basketball.
Neither team shot the ball real well for the game, from the field or from beyond the arc, but there was a huge free throw disparity in favor of ODU, who shot 16-23 from the charity stripe. The Monarchs also out-rebounded UNT, 46-28.
The Mean Green outscored the Monarchs bench, 34-4 and had 10 less turnovers but were unable to contain Ajah Wayne who finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Emma Villas-Gomis poured in 24 points for North Texas in the losing effort.
UNT suffers their 7th loss to move to 13-7. The Lady Monarchs win their second game in as many days and improve to 12-10. They're looking to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008. The Monarchs had a run of 17 straight tournament appearances from 1992-2008. They'll have their work cut out for them if they look to go dancing again.
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