Dec. 20, 2001

Box Score

Ashley Atkinson (Jr., Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo) scored a game-high and career-high 26 points, but it was not enough to upset the visiting Old Dominion Monarchs, ranked No. 25 in the nation Thursday at Magness Arena. ODU rolled to a 91-69 victory to improve to 5-3 on the season while the Pioneers fell to 4-8 as they completed non-conference play.

Denver started by scoring the first five points of the game before ODU mounted a 17-4 run and continued to outscore the Pioneers 34-13 over the next 10 minutes to hold a 16-point advantage (34-18) with six minutes to play in the half. Atkinson sunk four three pointers in the first half to help keep the Pioneers' hopes alive and finished the night with 26 points on 9-17 from the field, including 6-11 from long range. The Pioneers closed the gap to 11 points in the last minute of the half when Kellie Carwell (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) hit two free throws, but ODU took a 13-point lead to the locker room as Lucienne Berthieu made a layup at the end of the half.

In the second half, Denver tried to get back in the game using full court defensive pressure, but ODU was effective at breaking the press and scored easy buckets to gain a 57-37 advantage early in the half. Denver played even with the Monarchs for the remainder of the game, using 12 players on the roster, and got the deficit down to 15 points when Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo./Thornton) hit a three pointer with five minutes to play (76-61). ODU quickly regained its 20-point margin and finished the game with a 24-point decision (91-69).

Misty Staton (Duke, Okla./Duke) added 11 points for the Pioneers and Garcia finished with 10. Myriah Spence led six ODU players in double figures with 18 points on 7-12 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range.

The Pioneers concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule and will take an eight-day break for the holiday before opening the Sun Belt Conference slate at New Mexico State on Dec 28.