THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601290170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The 11th-ranked Lady Monarchs have made winning in the Colonial Athletic Association a science, and they might as well bottle it because the same game keeps showing up again and again. Sunday afternoon, George Mason was the victim, and the Patriots got bounced 93-51 before 1,232 at the ODU field house.
The formula? Defense, defense and more aggressive defense. GMU senior Keri Chaconas entered the game as the CAA's leading scorer with a 20.2 average, but she managed only a 4-of-12 effort Sunday in 33 minutes, finishing with 17 points.
``It really wasn't anything I didn't expect; I've been playing against them since my freshman year,'' Chaconas said. ``We know they'll be slapping the ball, trying for steals, denying our wings.''
With the win, ODU concluded what is perhaps its biggest conference weekend of the season. On Friday, they rolled over James Madison 67-42, the CAA's second-place team, and the Dukes had just come from a victory over the Patriots (11-7, 5-3), who started 5-0 in the CAA for the first time in school history.
``We talked about it on Tuesday being a big week,'' said ODU coach Wendy Larry. ``And Old Dominion has done what they needed to do.''
ODU (15-2, 7-0) jumped to a 20-6 lead as the Patriots, much like the Dukes two days earlier, missed some early high-percentage shots underneath the basket. Size was a problem for the Patriots, whose tallest starter, Taisha Thomas is 6-foot-3, and she was in foul trouble early, picking up her third personal with 1:40 remaining in the first half. But the bigger problem was ODU's slap-happy defense, which had 19 steals.
And Chaconas never found her rhythm. The Patriots build their offense around the 5-9 guard - overall, GMU only had six assists - but frustration piled up for her when the points didn't. Chaconas alone had 12 of the team's 35 turnovers.
``Keri's the key to that basketball team,'' Larry said. ``I thought collectively our perimeter rotation was good. Keri had to earn seven of those points from the foul line.''
Meanwhile, the ODU offense spread around the wealth with 24 assists, nine by Ticha Penicheiro. Nyree Roberts finished with a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers. Clarisse Machanguana added 18 and Esther Benjamin 15.
``It didn't feel like a career day,'' Roberts said. ``I can play better. At times on defense, I felt out of the flow.''
GMU shot 27 percent in the first half, and ODU led 39-22 at the break. The Lady Monarchs opened the second with a 14-2 run, and the Patriots never got any closer. ODU was 69 percent from the field. They only had 13 turnovers for the game despite giving the bench significant playing time. by CNB