March 9, 2006
FAIRFAX, Va. - The top-seeded Old Dominion Lady Monarchs held serve in their first tournament game as defending CAA champions with a 66-50 victory over the eighth-seeded George Mason Patriots Thursday night in quarterfinal action of the 2006 CAA Women's Basketball Championship.
Senior Paula Muxiri scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second half to lead the Lady Monarchs, who improve their record to 20-8 and advance to a 7:30 p.m. semifinal matchup with Hofstra on Friday. Shahida Williams added 12 points for ODU, all in the first half, while Shantel Wilson grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Tish Lyons scored nine to go with eight rebounds and a game-high five assists.
George Mason's season ends at 12-17. Lateisha Wade and Nikkia Slade led the way with 11 points each for the host Patriots.
Old Dominion led for the majority of the first half, but the Patriots stuck around and eventually tied the score at 25 with 1:27 remaining on a Nikkia Slade jumper.
The Lady Monarchs appeared ready to head into halftime with a two-point advantage following a pair of Tish Lyons free throws with 17 seconds on the clock. However, Slade made a steal at half-court and as she went to hoist a buzzer-beating three-point attempt, was fouled by Megan Pym with 0.2 ticks left. Slade promptly sank all three free throws to send the Patriots into the locker room with the momentum and a 28-27 lead.
George Mason only shot 31 percent in the opening period to ODU's 46.2 success rate, but converted four three-pointers and six foul shots to keep it tight. Old Dominion, on the other hand, went 0-for-3 from downtown and made just three free throws.
Interestingly enough, it was Old Dominion who led by one at the intermission in the first meeting between these two teams back on Jan. 20 in Norfolk, 35-34. The Lady Monarchs then went on to outscore the Patriots 36-21 in the second half for the 16-point victory.
The second half of this game would prove to be very similar to that of the first matchup. Mason's lead held for just 12 seconds, as T.J. Jordan hit a jumper to put the Lady Monarchs ahead once again. A Jordan steal ended the Patriots' next possession, and Mason would not regain the ball until five momentum-changing fouls were called in Old Dominion's favor.
Old Dominion went on to outscore George Mason 39-22 in the final period to build what would turn out to be another 16-point victory. The Lady Monarchs shot nearly 50 percent from the field while the Patriots were held to just under 30 percent. Muxiri and Old Dominion also dominated the post, outscoring Mason 44-20 in the paint.
