Liberty-Old Dominion Preview

3/20/2008 10:19 PM

By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Senior Writer

Old Dominion has built one of the most successful women's basketball programs over the years, but hasn't won an NCAA tournament game in six seasons.

The fifth-seeded Monarchs look to change that as they host a first-round game of the Greensboro Regional against No. 12 seed Liberty on Sunday night in Norfolk, Va.

Old Dominion (29-4) overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Virginia Commonwealth 71-64 to win its 17th straight Colonial Athletic Association tournament title last Sunday. The victory secured the Monarchs a 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

"It means a lot,'' said Monarchs center Tiffany Green, who had 15 points and nine rebounds in the championship game. "It's a long streak. I didn't want it to break. We just had to keep it going.''

Old Dominion has been a NCAA tournament staple, winning a national championship in 1985 and last reaching the title game in 1997. The Monarchs, however, have lost in the first round each of the last five years, last winning 88-62 over Kansas State in the 2002 regional finals.

The 11th-ranked Monarchs have a good chance of ending their tournament drought this season as they try for their 25th consecutive win at home when they face Liberty (28-3) for the second time ever. Old Dominion won 102-52 over the Flames in the first-round of the 1997 NCAA tournament in a matchup of the two Virginia schools separated by approximately 190 miles.

Old Dominion enters this contest having won 23 of its last 24 while recording its most wins since going 29-5 in 1999-2000. In addition to its most recent loss at James Madison on March 2, Old Dominion's other defeats came against Top 5 programs Connecticut, Stanford and Tennessee early in the season.

Senior guard T.J. Jordan, who also had 15 points in the CAA tournament title game, averages a team-leading 13.2 points, while Green is contributing 11.3 and a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game.

Green is averaging 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in two career NCAA tournament contests.

After failing to make the NCAA field in 2007, Liberty secured its 11th appearance in 12 seasons after Megan Frazee's basket with 0.3 seconds gave the Flames a 66-65 win over rival Radford in the finals of the Big South tournament last Sunday.

"We're excited to be in the NCAA Tournament," said Liberty coach Carey Green, whose team will play with its highest seed in school history. "I expect a good representation of Liberty supporters."

Frazee, the tournament's most outstanding player, scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Flames, who outscored Radford 43-33 in the second half.

"We knew what we wanted to do,'' Frazee said. "It happened to go our way and we're just blessed. You can't ever count us out.''

The 6-foot-3 junior averages a team-leading 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, and is one of the Frazee triplets, joining sisters Molly and Moriah on the Liberty roster.

The winner of this contest with face either fourth-seeded Virginia on UC Santa Barbara in the second round Tuesday.