Poor shooting plagued the Old Dominion women in their season opener Monday night as they lost 58-52 to Massachusetts at Chartway Arena in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
The Monarchs shot just 28.6% (22 of 77) overall and missed 12 of their first 15 layups. Though they pulled within three late, UMass held on. Yahmani McKayle led the visitors with 14 points.
“They looked like a well-oiled machine, and we did not,” Monarchs coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said on odusports.com.
Laila Walker, a 6-foot-4 senior who played for Jackson State and Louisiana Monroe before transferring to ODU, was 7 of 8 from the floor and had 14 points and nine rebounds in less than 15 minutes of action. It was almost 10 points more than average for ULM.
Also for the Monarchs, En’Dya Buford had 15 points and Simone Cunningham had seven points and 11 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds.
UMass led by 18 with 2:57 left in the third quarter, but ODU came back to 49-46 on a Buford jumper with 2:55 left in the game. But Allie Palmieri’s 3-pointer with about a minute to go put UMass ahead by seven.
ODU next hosts Elizabeth City State Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Chartway Arena.
No. 12 Mississippi 87, Norfolk State 46: The Jermaine Woods coaching era for NSU began with a loss in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Spartans, coming off three consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles, weren’t going to surprise another Southeastern Conference foe, having beaten Auburn — which hired former NSU coach Larry Vickers after the season — and Georgia last season.
Jasha Clinton led NSU with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Da’Brya Clark added 14 points, while Cire Worley anchored the defense with seven rebounds. Clark followed with four boards.
The Rebels closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 22-16 lead into the second. They led comfortably thereafter.Christeen Iwuala scored 15 points for Ole Miss, and Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon added 13 in her Rebels debut. Latasha Lattimore, a former Virginia Cavalier, had 12.
“It was a great game and I’m extremely proud of the effort and fight our team showed,” Woods said on nsuspartans.com. “We did turn the ball over a bit more than we would’ve liked, but credit to them – they applied great defensive pressure throughout the game.”
Ole Miss will visit Echols Hall next season to complete the home-and-home series.
No. 2 South Carolina 94, Grand Canyon 54: Ta’Niya Latson scored 20 points in her South Carolina debut, the Gamecocks’ 15th straight opening victory under coach Dawn Staley. Latson led the country in scoring for Florida State last season.
No. 3 UCLA 77, San Diego State 53: Lauren Betts scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting for UCLA in Anaheim, California. Gabriela Jaquez added 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Charlisse Leger-Walker had 12 points and five assists for the Bruins.
No. 4 Texas 123, Incarnate Word 51: Sophomore Jordan Lee scored a career-best 21 points in Austin for the Longhorns, who scored 27 straight points in the first quarter
No. 6 Oklahoma 84, Belmont 67: Raegan Beers had 29 points and 10 rebounds. She switched from the No. 52 she wore last season to the No. 15 she wore at Oregon State before transferring two seasons ago. She made 13 of 17 shots and fell one point short of her career high.
No. 16 Baylor 58, No. 7 Duke 52: Taliah Scott scored 12 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter for the Bears in Paris. Forward Toby Fournier led Duke with 16 points.
No. 10 Maryland 80, Loyola Maryland 26: Oluchi Okananwa scored 18 points, Saylor Poffenbarger added 11, and six other Maryland players scored at least six. It was the fewest points allowed by Maryland since Feb. 5, 1974.
No. 11 North Carolina 90, NC Central 42: Freshman Nyla Brooks scored 15 points off the bench in Chapel Hill, Ciera Toomey and Nyla Harris each had a double-double, and UNC won its eighth season opener in a row.
Morgan Callahan, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, was held to six points and seven rebounds for the Eagles.
James Madison 80, Kent State 48: Peyton McDaniel scored 29 points as Sun Belt preseason favorite JMU finished with 35 points off turnovers and limited the Golden Flashes to 1-of-16 shooting from 3-point range in a MAC-SBC Challenge game in Harrisonburg.
Princess Anne High alumna Zakiya Stephenson tied her career high with 13 points, knocking down 3 of 5 from 3-point range while dishing out a game-high five assists.
Mid-American Conference favorite Kent State committed 25 turnovers. After just 2:17 of play and with JMU leading 7-0, Golden Flashes head coach Todd Starkey was ejected after being whistled for two technical fouls.
https://www.dailypress.com/2025/11/04/cold-shooting-odu-women-drop-opener-vs-umass/