By Nick Pipitone
For the past 13 seasons, Old Dominion University (ODU) has owned a steel grip atop the Colonial Athletic Association. Going into this season, ODU was the 13-time defending champion of the conference, and heavily favored to capture its 14th consecutive title. But after nearly a decade and a half vacating the upper echelon of the country’s 12th toughest conference, something had to give.
That something came in the form of Delaware’s blazing-hot, school-record tying 17-game winning-streak and a remarkable two-game sweep of the vaunted Lady Monarchs. And just as its 122-game home conference winning streak came crumbling down on Jan. 9 in their first meeting with Delaware, so have its hopes to regain the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. With their second loss to Delaware Feb. 11, the Lady Monarchs officially relinquished their once-rightful throne, ensuring the Blue Hens the 2004-5 regular season title.
The emergence of such a dangerous threat atop the CAA hasn’t only been a headache for ODU. It just so happens the Pride has been given the dubious honor of facing both of these proclaimed powerhouses in back-to-back games to close out the regular season. Fighting and scrapping to clinch the ever-so-important day off in the tournament, the Pride fell just short in round one of their season-ending heavyweight bout, losing to the Blue Hens this past Sunday, 63-56, at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del.
The Pride led by six at halftime, but a 41-29 second half explosion got the Blue Hens conference win No. 15.
After Delaware broke open the game with a quick 9-0 run, the Pride rallied back and took a 17-16 lead with a Lana Harshaw layup with 6:49 remaining. Shooting a scorching 55 percent in the first half, the Pride continued its torrid stretch and closed the first half with a 24-8 run extending from the 14:07 mark to the end of the half. Near the end of the half, the stingy Pride defense was able to hold Delaware to a seven-minute scoring drought.In the second half, the Pride did not trail until the 4:34 mark when sophomore guard Tyresa Smith hit two foul shots to put Delaware up for good. The Pride was only able to cut the deficit down to three the rest of the way as the Blue Hens drained some key foul shots to extinguish any chance of a Pride upset.
Since joining the CAA, the Pride has yet to win at Delaware. In addition, the loss was the Pride’s eleventh straight at the hands of the Blue Hens.
With a fifth loss in the past six games, the Pride dropped to 12-14 overall and 7-10 in the conference. As of Sunday, the Pride was deadlocked at seventh place in the conference with George Mason University and a game behind Towson University (15-13, 8-9). Conversely, Delaware improves to 22-4 overall and 15-2 in the conference, locking up the top seed in the tournament.
The Pride had three players in double-figures, led by sophomore center Vanessa Gidden (16 points, 12 rebounds) who posted her eighth double-double of the season. But no matter what the Pride seemed to do, pre-season CAA-player of the year Tiarra Malcolm always had an answer for it. The senior stalwart posted a season-high 30 points, a whole 14 points above her conference leading average, in her last home game as a Blue Hen.
“I’ve watched [Malcolm] play three years and I’ve never seen her play with that zest of completion,” head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said, referring to Malcolm’s motivation on Sunday in her home finale. “This particular game she said, ‘If we win or we lose, it’s going to be on my back.'”
But Malcolm’s outstanding performance wasn’t the only hindrance in Sunday’s game for the Pride. The Pride had 33 turnovers, compared to Delaware’s 19, with most of them leading to points. Senior Charlotte Baldrey-Chourio, sophomore Cigi McCollin, and Gidden all had at least five turnovers, despite scoring in double figures.
The Pride’s drop off in play in the second half, both offensively and defensively, also largely contributed to Delaware’s ability to come back. Delaware only managed to shoot 30 percent in the first half, but came back in the second half to shoot 39 percent.
“I think we had a good team effort,” Jack said. “For the most part, our energy level was 100 percent and we were focused and driven.”
Women’s Hoops Notebook
Officiating
It was senior night Sunday at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del., as the Blue Hens played their final home game of the season. The Pride was called for a total of 26 fouls, enabling Delaware to add an extra 23 points on 32 foul shots. That number doesn’t sound like that much, but compare it to Delaware’s 13 fouls and you get a better idea.
“I think both teams played competitive, but for some reason our wacks were a little more obvious than their wacks,” Jack said. “But I’ll never give that credit to the officials; they don’t deserve that much credit.” While Coach Jack may have a point, the Pride were called for their 16th team foul early in the second half, giving Delaware a chance to go to the line for the remainder of the half. The result? The Blue Hens shot 18-24 from the line in the second half.
Three-guard Lineup
Coach Jack decided to go with a three-guard starting lineup, plugging in 5-foot-11 freshman guard Jenna McSpadden at the “three” for Baldrey and starting India Ali at point guard.
However, Ali got two quick fouls early in the game and Jack went to a bigger lineup, with sophomore Lizanne Murphy at the “three,” fellow sophomore Lana Harshaw at power forward, and Baldrey at point.
“With Charlotte stepping in, her energy level was just at a whole other stage,” Jack said. “Almost like a senior counting down her last minutes.” Once inserted into the lineup, Baldrey stayed on the floor for most of the game, tallying 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting in 31 minutes of action.
Where have Cigi’s numbers gone?
McCollin, easily the Pride’s most dynamic player, posted decent numbers, putting up 11 points on 3 of 7 shooting. But for a player that has averaged 16.2 points per game this season, some would call it an off day. In fact, excluding last Thursday’s 25-point performance in a loss to George Mason, the third-year sophomore has only averaged 8.3 points in her past three games, a 50 percent decrease in scoring for the Pride’s primary weapon.
“She’s taken on another role actually,” Jack said. “She’s played point guard for us for on a couple of occasions because our point guards weren’t playing up to potential.
“She’s accepting of that and that’s what kind of happened. In this particular game, the ball didn’t come back all the time to Cigi because of [Delaware’s] zone. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the average that she usually gets but she certainly played within herself.”