No defense, no rebounding, no win for ODU

NORFOLK

North Carolina-Wilmington had all the answers. Old Dominion had none.

On the floor, and later off, the Lady Monarchs were at a loss about a 76-54 beatdown by the Seahawks (11-7, 4-3), who had lost their last 42 games against Old Dominion (6-13, 3-4).

"They just wanted it more," senior Tia Lewis said, an answer that typically points to a pint of problems without an easy answer. "It all comes down to they wanted it more."

In the second half, when a competitive contest turned to a rout, Old Dominion was outrebounded 25-11 and surrendered 10 fast-break points. UNCW shot 53.1 percent from the field and made 6 of 9 3-pointers, most of them open looks.

Abria Trice led UNCW with 20 points, while Alisha Andrews and Jessica Freeman both had 16.

The Seahawks, who built on their 29-24 halftime lead, made themselves so comfortable that coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke exchanged handshakes and backslaps with campus police officers and security guards after the game.

"I want us to play tough," head coach Karen Barefoot said. "They have to grow in that area. At some point, they have to give their heart and soul to this program."

Lewis led ODU with 16 points, and Jackie Cook added 11.

Lewis scored ODU's first five points of the second half before UNCW re-focused on limiting her. After Lewis converted a three-point play with 17:40 left, the Seahawks went on a 17-4 run to take a 51-33 lead.

Freeman and Andrews scored 28 of their 32 points in the second half.

"We kept telling them, 'Tia is going to try to take over,' " Cooper-Dyke said. "We tried to limit her touches."

The rest of the Lady Monarchs couldn't find an answer, making just 11 of 28 shots and combining for 27 points. Starting guard JoNiquia Guilford's struggles were particularly glaring. She scored four points and grabbed one rebound in 24 minutes, committing seven turnovers.

She played with her right hand taped to protect an injured thumb, and it appeared to limit her ball-handling. ODU declined to make her available during its post-game news conference.

Guilford was far from alone, and turnovers were one of many problems.

Barefoot went through a list of potential problems including paying more attention to scouting reports, being tougher, having more focus.

Few of those issues, though, have a quick fix.

The Lady Monarchs had seemingly made progress in each of the previous five games, pushing their league record to .500

After those improvements, this step back was particularly abrupt.

"We started second-guessing ourselves," Barefoot said. "We had some unforced turnovers and I felt like everyone was getting down on themselves, like nothing would work."

Notes: Tia Lewis had five rebounds to tie Kelly Lyons for sixth on ODU's all-time list with 1,008. Her 16 points moved her past Shareese Grant and into 16th place all-time on ODU's scoring list. She now has 1,451.