THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290458
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Second-best in the Colonial Athletic Association proved to be in the same ballpark as Old Dominion, but the Lady Monarchs are still in another league. James Madison, the CAA's No. 2 team, got closer than anyone else in the conference, but the Lady Monarchs still prevailed 77-64 Wednesday night at the field house.
Seventh-ranked ODU (23-2, 15-0) has one regular-season game remaining, on Sunday against William and Mary, before hosting the CAA tournament next week. The Lady Monarchs, have clinched the top seed and looking to win five straight CAA titles.
``There's an intimidation factor in our conference,'' Dukes coach Shelia Moorman said. ``You have to get past that mystique to get out and play. It can be like a sixth man, and it can be deadly.''
The Dukes (18-7, 11-4), who had won seven straight, were only able to get past that mystique in the second half. After shooting 30 percent, they went into the break trailing 35-19, and point guard Holly Rilinger appeared frustrated by ODU's suffocating defense.
The Dukes were struggling, as they had in a 67-42 loss earlier this season in Harrisonburg, making bad passes, suffering a pair of shot-clock violations and producing 16 turnovers. ODU also blocked seven shots in the first half, four by Nyree Roberts, who finished the game with six, a career high.
``We were real disappointed with our performance in the first half,'' said Moorman, who said the early-season loss to ODU became a motivator for the Dukes. ``We're playing a lot better as a team, and it really took that beating at our place to make that happen.''
And the Dukes looked to be a better team in the second half, cleaning up their play and taking better looks at the basket, although ODU never lost its cushion.
Clarisse Machanguana led the Lady Monarchs with 21 points, notching her 1,000th career point with 7:30 left in the game. The junior from Mozambique is the 14th ODU player to accomplish that, and she did it in less than two years.
``I wasn't really looking for scoring,'' said Machanguana, who received the game ball during the next timeout. ``I went in with the intention of stopping Sarah Schreib.''
Schreib, who averages 14.8 points, was held scoreless in the first half, finishing with four. Although the Dukes outscored ODU 45-42 in the second half - a first for a CAA opponent this season - they never threatened. They got as close as 10, but by that time only 1:16 remained, and Roberts responded with a quick jump shot.
``It was like a boxer moving his feet, but he's not throwing punches back,'' ODU coach Wendy Larry said of the Lady Monarchs' ability to keep JMU at bay. ``We did a lot of shuffling our feet and dodging some bullets and threw some punches, but we never really did throw the uppercut.''
Rilinger went on to finish with a career-high 29 points, and Krissy Heinbaugh had 16.
Nyree Roberts scored 14 and Ticha Penicheiro 11 with seven assists for the Lady Monarchs. In honor of Senior Night at ODU, Larry started seniors Esther Benjamin and Sarah Willyerd in place of Roberts and Mery Andrade.
``Clarisse and Esther both did a superb job on Sarah Schreib tonight,'' Larry said. ``But our staple has been our defensive transition, and I think we got beat there tonight.''
The Lady Monarchs also struggled from the free-throw line, missing seven front ends of one-and-ones. They finished 14 of 26 for 58 percent.
``We knock down some free throws,'' Larry said, ``and it's not a game.'' ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
James Madison's Krissy Heinbaugh goes to the hoop but without the
ball, thanks to ODU's Nyree Roberts and Sarah Willyerd.
by CNB