NORFOLK (ODU Sports) – It was Senior Night Thursday for the Old Dominion women’s basketball team, and when it really counted, when the Monarchs had to have points, three seniors delivered.
Brianna Jackson had 19 points and nine rebounds, Amari Young 14 points, 15 rebounds and three steals and Kaye Clark 12 points and seven rebounds as the Monarchs edged Appalachian State, 71-65, before a Chartway Arena crowd of 1,733.
Jackson, the 6-foot-3 forward from Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach, played perhaps her best game of the season, and certainly her best fourth quarter – she had 10 points and four rebounds in the final period. Clark also came up big with seven points and five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
The victory, combined with Coastal Carolina’s 99-97 upset victory at Troy, moved the Monarchs into a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference with three games left to play.
ODU (19-9 overall, 11-4 Sun Belt) is tied with Troy (16-10, 11-4) and James Madison (21-6, 11-4). ODU ends its home season Saturday at 2 p.m. with a rivalry game against JMU.
The top four teams at the end of the season get a double bye into the Sun Belt Tournament, held Feb. 28 through March 6 in Pensacola, Florida.
