VCU's Pellechio for three...Yes!

Jessica Pellechio

Recapping Tuesday's action:

Star of stars

Jessica Pellechio: In the press conference Saturday night following Old Dominion's 74-51 victory over VCU, the Lady Monarchs took a good deal pride in their defensive work on Pellechio, a 5-8 freshman and the pride of North Hunterdon High (N.J.). Now we see why they were so pleased with themselves. After scoring just two points against ODU, Pellechio lit up UMKC three nights later with 9 3-pointers and a game-high 30 points as the Rams rolled 79-55 in their Siegel Center debut. The 9 3s are just one shy of the program record (Meagan Evans made 10 on Nov. 16, 2001 against UMBC) and leaves her with 18 through her first four games. By the way, the VCU single-season record for 3s in a season is 94 by Anna Pavlikhina in 1991-92. Not trying to put pressure on Jess or anything, but that number certainly seems like something she can, ah, shoot for. Also noteworthy in VCU's first victory of the season was the play of Robyn Parks, who notched her second straight double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the fact that the Rams (1-3) had just 12 turnovers after coughing it up 25 times at ODU.

Game balls

- Devon Brown: The Liberty star went for a game-high 23 points (making 8 of 10 field goals) as part of a commendable overall team effort by the Lady Flames in a 70-55 loss at Texas A&M. The last these teams met in College Station, almost two years ago to the day (Nov. 22, 2010), the Aggies won by 34. This time, though, Liberty (2-2) trailed by just four at halftime and was still within seven midway through the second half.

ODU's defense: The Lady Monarchs (4-0) smothered yet another opponent, holding Maryland-Eastern Shore to 24.5 percent shooting in a 62-46 road victory. Some pertinent numbers from ODU's first three games: Virginia Tech shot just 25 percent, South Carolina-Upstate turned it over 34 times and VCU shot 31.3 percent with 25 turnovers. ODU still has some work to do on the offensive end (26 turnovers against UMES, including 10 by Shae Kelley, who also had 12 points and 10 rebounds for an unusual triple-double). But so far, the Lady Monarchs' defense has been money.

Chelsea Coward: The Longwood senior went into Tuesday's game against Coppin State averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds. Her stats for the game - 18 points, 11 rebounds.