Old Dominion (12-3) vs. Rice (5-6)
Game Info – Thursday, Jan. 20 at 3 p.m.
Location – Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – Money Talk 1310 AM, 100.9 FM and 97.3 HD2
Live Stats – Click Here
 
Old Dominion vs. North Texas
Game Info – Saturday, Jan. 22, 3 p.m.
Location – Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – CUSA.tv
Listen – ESPN Radio 94.1 FM
Live Stats – Click Here
 
Social Media – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
 
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion women's basketball team continues its four-game homestand with games against Rice on Thursday and North Texas on Saturday. Both games will now tip at 3 p.m. due to forecasted winter weather. The Rice game is airing live on ESPN+ and Money Talk 1310 AM, 100.9 FM and 97.3 HD2. Saturday's game with North Texas is being carried on CUSA.tv and ESPN Radio 94.1 FM.
 
Alumni recognition activities and the celebration of the 1996-97 national runner-up team originally scheduled for Saturday have been postponed. An effort will be made to reschedule for later this season. All women's basketball alumni who RSVP'd will receive additional information via email. For more on the 1996-97 team, click here to read Harry Minium's article.
 
The Starting Five
The Monarchs improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games with a 61-48 win over Florida Atlantic on Monday. ODU overcame an 11-0 deficit to start the game and trailed 39-38 at the end of the third quarter. Old Dominion outscored the Owls 23-9 in the fourth quarter. Ajah Wayne netted 12 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth on 4-of-6 shooting, and the Monarchs forced 12 turnovers in the last 10 minutes. ODU shot below 40 percent on Monday but made up for it with 24 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points.
 
ODU is 5-1 inside Chartway Arena this season and have won its last three games at home. The Monarchs are 11-7 (.611) at home under head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones.
 
Amari Young scored her 1,000th point vs. Florida Atlantic on Monday and is now 35th in all-time scoring at ODU with 1,010 points. Wayne also scored her 1,000th career point this season, doing so against Saint Joseph's on Nov. 26. Wayne is 27th in career scoring at ODU with 1,055 points.
 
The Monarchs are one of the tightest defensive units in the country this year. ODU entered Wednesday ranked sixth nationally and first in C-USA in scoring defense (50.3). The Monarchs are 22nd in field goal percentage defense (.350) and 17th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.249). ODU is turning teams over 23.2 times per game (11th in DI) while averaging the 12th-most steals per game (12.4) in the country.
 
On Feb. 19, 2021 the Monarchs sat at 6-9 overall and 3-8 in Conference USA before ending the season with seven wins in their last nine games. The Monarchs are a combined 19-5 (.792) since that Feb. 19 loss to UAB. Those 19 wins are the most by a C-USA team over that span, and no team in C-USA can match ODU's win percentage since Feb. 19.
 
Scouting Rice
The Owls are 5-6 overall and 0-3 in Conference USA in their first season under Lindsay Edmonds, who replaced longtime head coach Tina Langley after Langley's departure to Washington. Rice most recently lost to Marshall, 66-53 on Saturday.
 
Rice shot 44.4 percent from the field in that game but committed 23 turnovers, 12 more than Marshall. Destiny Jackson paced the Owls with 10 points and nine boards. She is one of six players to average more than eight points per game.
 
Ashlee Austin leads Rice in scoring on the season with 15.3 points per game on 50-percent shooting from the field. Austin is fourth in C-USA in shooting percentage and sixth in scoring.
 
Malia Fisher is the Owls' leading rebounder at 8.4 per game (fourth in C-USA) and ranks second in the conference with 1.55 blocks per game.
 
Scouting North Texas
The Mean Green currently sit at 7-6 and 1-2 in C-USA. UNT plays Charlotte on Thursday before traveling to Old Dominion.
 
North Texas lost its last game, 61-54 at home to WKU. The Mean Green shot below 40 percent from the field and turned the ball over 29 times in the loss. Quincy Noble had a team-high 11 points. Noble is the team's leading scorer this season with 15.2 points per game.
 
Madison Townley leads UNT in rebounding at 7.9 per game. Aly Gamez averages 11.2 points on .442 shooting with 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
 
The Series
ODU and Rice are playing for the 17th time in a series that is tied 8-8. The Monarchs lost three times to the Owls last season, including a 62-60 result in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament. In that game, ODU nearly erased a 15-point deficit and were down a point, 57-56, with 47 second to play, but top-seeded Rice held on to end the Cinderella run of the sixth-seeded Monarchs. Wayne posted a 25-point, 17-rebound double-double on 11-of-22 shooting with three assists and three steals in that game. Maggie Robinson chipped in 13 with three made 3-pointers, and Young fell one point shy of a double-double.
 
Old Dominion is 9-4 all-time against North Texas and has won the last three meetings. The Monarchs prevailed 71-66 in the first round of the 2021 C-USA Tournament. ODU shot better than 50 percent from the field in the second half and held UNT to a 4-for-21 (.190) mark from behind the 3-point arc. Wayne had a 26-point and 16-rebound double-double, going 11-of-15 from the field. Mariah Adams added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Young had eight points and 10 boards.
 
What's Next
The Monarchs host Charlotte on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. before making the return trip to the Queen City on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m.