Some thoughts on growing the game

Val Ackerman

Dear Val:

We're thrilled to hear you've been hired as a consultant and advisor by the NCAA for women's basketball. Improving marketing and overall attendance is said to be one of your priorities. We have some thoughts to share on that.

Admittedly, we're not the audience you're trying to market to. We follow this sport, go to games, write about the story lines and have interest in the outcomes. We find fun nuggets in box scores, and when we hear the Final Four, we have to kick ourselves to remember that other Final Four -- the men's one.

In doing all this, there are times when we feel we toil and enjoy this game in oblivion. It is not unusual for us to be in gyms so empty, we can hear every word the coach is saying. Often we can do our own head count. And while we take a statewide approach to our teams in the Commonwealth, we find that to be one that few fans embrace. They love their team and only their team. While it's easy to find a Virginia fan or an Old Dominion fan, it's not so easy to come by a fan of women's basketball. That's most evident during the NCAA Tournament, when empty seats are more the norm than the exception especially for the early rounds but too frequently at the regional level as well.

To be fair, the sport has enjoyed commendable growth over the three-plus decades that the NCAA has been involved. But the game can only sell itself to a point, and it appears as though we've reached that point.

So what should you do about this? Our thoughts:

*Find more creative ways to get fans in the door. Think out of the box or sometimes think simply. Hot dog night drew in excess of 10,000 fans a couple years ago at John Paul Jones Arena. Years ago, we attended a charity event by tennis player James Blake that combined the music of John Mayer with the tennis of James Blake and Andy Roddick. Fans of two completely separates interests combined to enjoy one gala event. We wonder, might Victoria Justice get a few fans in the door?

*Women's basketball needs students in the seats. Students can get inside the head of other students. Let student clubs, and on campuses where Greek life is  do the marketing for you. Get a pool of the top student clubs at each university and ask each club to be responsible for promoting one game. Incentivize it. The club responsible for bringing in the most fans receives something of value -- simple recognition isn't enough --  at the end of the season.

*Women's basketball players are largely excellent role models. Engage women's leadership organizations to partner with women's hoops players. Pursue sponsorships with those groups. Tailor your marketing to different professional groups as well. Make one night a "Music teachers night," another a "Dental hygienists night." Give discounts.

*Use your alumni base. Schedule alumni events at games and theme the games around those events. If it's classes from the '70s, include some KC and the Sunshine Band over the PA.

*Schedule a skills camp after an afternoon game and market to middle school, high school and recreational teams. When the kids are there, make sure the players are fully engaged with them.

*Contests, promotions, giveaways -- everybody likes to get something for very little.

*Make the experience memorable for the fans who do come. Too often women's games lack atmosphere. While it's hard for every school to match the mirth that goes on during timeouts at Thompson-Boling Arena, too often there's nothing at women's hoops games beyond the game. Make every second fun; involve kids in on-court contests.

*Buy one, get one. Buy three, get two. Make a dollar night. It's a bad economy. Make it easier -- and cheaper -- to go to the games.

*Use your players to build a grassroots presence in the community. Almost every school has its players engage in some type of community service, but that's not enough. Players need to be visible around campus recruiting fans in dining halls, dorms, outside of classroom. Make women's basketball cool.

*Should the rim be lowered? We hear advocates in support of that, and while we don't think lowering the rim a few inches would cause Armageddon, we're not sure it would have much impact on attendance. Again, this goes back to one thought: The product -- and we stress it's a product we love -- doesn't sell itself in this case. You've got to find some other way to get them in the door.

*Social media is the rage. Use it as a marketing tool and engage the players in social media, too. We know how overloaded players are with priorities during the season, but we also know that the cell phone rarely leaves their hand. Increasing attendance isn't just a marketing issue. It's an issue that affects the future of the sport, and the current ambassadors of the sport are its coaches and players.

*One more thing. We don't have all the answers. In fact, we might not have any of them. So ask questions. Engage the marketing staff to ask those who don't go to women's games why they don't and then ask quite simply, what would it take? We might all learn something that way.

We wish you great success in the position, Val. We'll be rooting for you.

Sincerely,

LadySwish

You can't win them all or can you? These 4 teams haven't lost

Unbeaten teams
Total: (through Jan. 6): 1
ACC
- Duke (13-0)
(Jan. 10 vs. Clemson)

Winless teams
Total (through Jan. 6): 5
Big Sky
Weber State (0-13)
MAAC
St. Peter's (0-13)
MEAC
North Carolina Central (0-14)
Ohio Valley
Jacksonville State (0-15)
SWAC
Alcorn State (0-12)

King, Wann lead Richmond past JMU

As writers, we cringe when players and coaches used the phrase "we stepped up." It's the ultimate sports cliche, a phrase so overused it's pretty much lost all meaning.

That said, every once in a while, the tired old line actually fits. So with apologies to journalists everywhere, here goes: Kristina King and Becca Wann really stepped up in Richmond's 70-66 victory at JMU Sunday.

That's right, we said it. You see, over the Thanksgiving weekend the Spiders saw junior forward Genevieve Okoro go down for the season with an ACL tear. Already an all-conference performer, Okoro seemed poised for her best season yet. And while the Spiders have plenty of good players, they don't really have another Okoro, someone with that combination of athleticism and hops. She seemed to be the one player the Spiders couldn't replace. That is, unless one of two of the other Spiders started doing stuff they'd never done before.

Which is precisely what happened Sunday. I mean, Kristina King is a very nice player who has really come into her own this season. But a career-high 29 points, 11 more than she'd ever scored in a college game before? Damn, girl! Oh, and Spiders coach Michael Shafer said she did a great job defensively, too. Meanwhile, all Richmond got from Wann, who moved into the starting lineup after Okoro's injury, was a career-high 21 points and 15 rebounds. You know, Delle Donne numbers.

Now, no one expects these two to go off like this every night (right?). But it's clear the Spiders understand that in order to get the team results they covet without Okoro, everyone else is going to have to do a little more. This time, King and Wann did a lot more.

In short, (gulp) they stepped up.

Still, the biggest shot of the game came from ol' reliable Rachael Bilney, who drained a 3-pointer - her only one of the game - with 2:26 left to vault her Spiders ahead 63-61. Bilney's shot came 18 seconds after the Dukes, who trailed the entire second half, had finally forged ahead on a Tarik Hislop layup. Richmond would not trail again.

Hislop finished with 22 points. But it was an otherwise tough day for the Dukes. In addition to the obvious defensive struggles against King and Wann, JMU was also beaten on the boards and generally lost the battle of physicality, according to Dukes coach Kenny Brooks.

"Richmond was tougher than we were," Brooks said during his postgame radio interview.

Brooks' track record suggests he'll find the appropriate corrective measures. It will help if he can have his whole team available for practices. Freshman point guard Angela Mickens has only recently returned to action after battling injuries, and sophomore forward Toia Giggetts missed time after suffering a concussion.

In other games Sunday:

George Mason 58, UAB 55: In her first game since dropping a career-high 33 points on Drake eight days ago, Patriots senior Rahneeka Saunders scored seven straight points in the final 1:34 to wipe out a four-point deficit. Saunders finished with a team-high 16 points, Amber Easter added 13 points and 9 rebounds and Janaa Pickard had 11 points and 11 boards.

Old Dominion 73, Dartmouth 59: A career-high 23 points from redshirt senior Mairi Buchan led the way for the Lady Monarchs, who also scored 28 points off 23 Dartmouth turnovers. Jackie Cook added 19 points, Tiffany Minor chipped in 10 and Shae Kelley pulled down 12 rebounds.

No. 25 West Virginia 54, Virginia 47: Would have loved to see the Cavs get a win here, but we're not surprised they struggled to score. Most teams do against the rugged Mountaineers, one of the most physical teams in the country.

Saturday's shoutouts

Devon Brown, Liberty: Scored 9 of her game-high 28 points in the final 4:45 as the Lady Flames rallied for a 67-65 victory at Radford in an exciting Big South opener. Liberty trailed the entire second half until Tolu Omatola scored with 43 seconds left.

Alyssa Fenyn, Virginia Tech: Tied her career high with 17 points and added 7 assists and 4 rebounds as the Hokies topped Longwood to win for the third time in a seven-day span. Fenyn got strong support from Monet Tellier (13 points, 8 assists) and freshman Lauren Evans (10 points, 10 assists). Notice that's 25 assists from three players.

Da'Naria Erwin Spencer, Radford: Scored a season-high 21 points in the near-miss to Liberty while moving into seventh place on the Highlanders' all-time scoring list with 1,215 career points.

VCU's "high octane" style: Looks as though the Rams age getting the hang of this uptempo approach as it yielded five double-figure scorers in an 86-57 victory over Florida A&M - Robyn Parks (19 points), Jessica Pellechio (14), Kaneisha Atwater (13), Janniina Koivunen (12) and Robyn Hobson (10). Also, Shekinah Henry grabbed 14 rebounds.

Kenia Cole, Hampton: The sophomore guard poured in a career-high 20 points as Hampton kicked off MEAC play with a 59-46 win at South Carolina State. By the way, it's pronounced Ka-NEE-yuh. Nice double-double by Keiara Avant, too (12 points, 12 rebounds).

Crystal Smith, Longwood: The senior's season-high 26 points in the loss at Virginia Tech were produced in part by a career-high 5 3-pointers.

25 things about...the ODU-Cal show

No. 10 California 63, Old Dominion 47

- From Day One as the Old Dominion head coach, Karen Barefoot has pledged the Lady Monarchs will become the hardest-working team in the country. Based on Friday night's results, this group is well on its way to fulfilling that pledge. Off-the-charts effort exerted, by both sides, actually.

- Add in an enthusiastic crowd - thank you, Girl Scouts - a nationally ranked opponent and some fierce resistance by the home team and, at times, it started to feel a bit like the good ol' Lady Monarchs days at the Constant Center. "Everyone talks about the past," Lady Monarchs star Jackie Cook said. "We want to bring the past back."

- The Lady Monarchs were borderline heroic on defense, forcing 25 turnovers and generally making things uncomfortable for the talented Golden Bears throughout the night. The performance kept them in the game and actually put them in position for an upset until....

- After cutting a 13-point second-half deficit to four, ODU went the final 8:26 without a single point. Barefoot called it a drought, but when you're scoreless for that long, that word doesn't seem quite strong enough, does it? Offensive dehydration, perhaps?

- The players weren't the only ones leaving everything out there. Judging from how she sounded post-game, Barefoot left most of her voice in the Constant Center during the ODU-Cal scrum, too. Wonder if there's a throat lozenge allowance in her contract.

- Cal's massive rebounding edge (66-33) tells us a lot of things, including the fact that both teams missed a ton of shots. And the players didn't discriminate on the misfires, as they struggled from 2-point range, 3-point range (a combined 1 of 16) and even the free-throw line (each team at 50 percent, causing one scribe to crack they should change the name to "relatively inexpensive" throws).

- Said Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb: "The Basketball Hall of Fame's not going to be asking for this tape anytime soon."

- But man, did those teams play hard.

- By the way, we've just added the engaging Gottlieb, a self-described "basketball nerd," to the list of people we'd love to spend an hour talking hoops with.

- The rebounding numbers aside, ODU did have a few clever ways to combat Cal's size advantage. On several occasions, a Cal post player caught the ball in the low post and prepare to go up for a layup, only to be thwarted by one of ODU's little guards diving down and stripping the ball before the post could ascend.

- When it comes to the raw ability to vault off the ground like a human pogo stick and corral a rebound, few do it better than Cal's ridiculously springy Gennifer Brandon (17 rebounds, 14 in the first half). Think Nneka Ogwumike. Or a young Dennis Rodman. Seriously. She's that unique of an athlete.

- ODU forward Shae Kelley didn't exactly dominate in ODU's first four games, no doubt in part because she didn't have to. But in each game, she'd make two or three plays where you'd think to yourself, that'll work against anyone. Friday, she made a bunch of those plays against the talented Golden Bears. In one tantalizing stretch in the second half, Cal simply couldn't stop Kelley (21 points, 7 rebounds) from beating her (wo)man off the dribble, getting to her spot and finishing. "She almost singlehandedly had 'em go on that run," Gottlieb said of Kelley, who bunched 14 of her points into a 9-minute stretch after intermission. "You can tell she's going to be a kid that rises to the level of competition."

- Finishing against the bigger Golden Bears was considerably more challenging for most of the Lady Monarchs, though. The good news is ODU's players often succeeded in compromising Cal's defense with drives to the basket. It seemed to us that on a few of these occasions, the Lady Monarchs might have been better served kicking the ball out to an open shooter than trying to finish over size. But since we don't break down the film, we'll leave the game-planning to Barefoot and Co.

- We were interested to see if all the energy and enthusiasm the Lady Monarchs displayed during their four blowout victories, in-game and on the bench, would also be in evidence on a night when they were struggling. We're pleased to report that it was. Shakeva Richards in particular was as vocal and demonstrative, on court and on the bench, as we've ever seen her.

- Sure, Skylar Diggins, Odyssey Sims and Chelsea Gray are great. But let's put it this way. If we've got the fourth pick in a four-team draft of point guards and the only one left is Cal's Brittany Boyd, well, don't bother feeling sorry for us. The Cal star can ball, y'all - and she's just a sophomore.

-  In addition to her on-court brilliance, ODU's Kelley also displayed a winning personality in her brief remarks during the press conference and even had some fun with the fact that the teams combined to miss 29 free throws. "I think the rims were moving," she said. And that wasn't even Kelley's best line. "This was probably the best team we've played so far," she said. Probably, Shae?

- Heading into Friday, ODU was one of four unbeaten Division I teams from non-BCS conferences. And now there are three - Dayton (7-0) from the Atlantic 10, Pacific (6-0) from the Big West and JMU-conqueror Quinnipiac (4-0) from the Northeast.

- Cal (6-0) remains among the 22 unbeaten Division I teams overall.

- As the Golden Bears dribbled out the final 20 or so seconds, Barefoot applauded her team and shouted "Good job!" to her players on the bench. She would go on to say that she could not be more proud of her team, and that the Lady Monarchs proved they could play with anyone in the country.

- But lest anyone think the Lady Monarchs were happy losers, Cook made it clear they realize there's still work to be done to become the team they want to be. "We're pleased with how we played...but we need to get better. We will get better," she said. "There's so much room for improvement."

- Remember, too, that this ODU team isn't even whole yet. In January, Miami transfer Stephanie Gardner and Portugal's Michelle Brandao will be added to the mix.

- Meanwhile, Gottlieb said the Golden Bears got pretty much everything they wanted out of their trip to Norfolk - a victory after a stern test on the road in the lead-up to Sunday's showdown at No. 3 Duke. "We won through foul trouble, through a rough shooting night and through a team that threw a lot of things at us that were troubling," she said. "I'm proud of the way our kids hung in and pulled away at the end."

- Finally, after the game we met Cook's mother, Donna, who along with her husband Chris routinely makes the 8-hour drive from Ohio - "we drive really fast" - to root the Lady Monarchs on. Donna Cook is the type of person who after talking to her for five minutes has made you feel as though you've known her for 20 years. So when our "old friend" asked us to use all our influence to get the Colonial Athletic Association to allow ODU to play in the conference tournament, how could we say no?

- So we said it to Momma Cook, and now we're saying it to the world: We promise to use every bit of our influence with the CAA to get ODU in the tournament.

- Wish us luck. We'll need it.

Saunders, Hislop among stars of holiday hoops

Liberty's Devon Brown

All-Turkey Team

The five top players from last week's Thanksgiving holiday hoops extravaganza

Rahneeka Saunders, George Mason: Usually content to defend, run the offense and set up others, Saunders decided to get hers Saturday in Las Cruces, New Mexico and torched Drake for a career-high 33 points, or the same number she'd scored in her previous four games combined. A sign of things to come?

Tarik Hislop, JMU: ESPNW's Player of the Week went for 32 points in the Dukes' remarkable Cancun Challenge overtime victory over Green Bay, then came back two days later and went for 30 in JMU's win over Wichita State. Just as notably, Hislop, a career 33.7 percent shooter entering the season, made 56 percent of her shots in the two games (23 of 41).

Devon Brown, Liberty: In road games at two of the toughest teams in the country, Brown delivered the following numbers: at Texas A&M: 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting; at Baylor: 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Oh, and Brown shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the two games and made 8 of 9 free throws.

Genevieve Okoro, Richmond: Went for 12 points and 17 rebounds as the Spiders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 58-46 victory over Minnesota in the Cancun Challenge. The 17 boards were the most by a Richmond player in 10 years (Kate Flavin had 22 rebounds in 2002).

Jazmin Pitts, Virginia: Notched a career-high 20 points in the Cavaliers' 73-66 victory over then-No. 17 Vanderbilt in a satisfying San Juan Shootout opener.

But let's not forget about....

Janine Aldridge, William and Mary: Lit up Austin Peay for five 3-pointers and 22 points on Saturday, and on Sunday became just the 15th Tribe performer to crack the 1,000 career-point barrier in a loss to host Texas-San Antonio.

Robyn Parks

Robyn Parks, VCU: The reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week notched her third straight double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 24-point victory at Maine. Remember, folks, this is a player who averaged 6.6 points and 3.2 rebounds last season.

Ashley Buckhannon, Radford: Scored a team-high 17 points in a win over Southern Illinois, then led the Highlanders again with 15 points in a strong showing against tournament host Miami - yet somehow failed to make the all-tournament team. Happy to see those honors did go to Radford's Sarah Tabb and Ayana Avery, though.

Sarah Imovbioh, Virginia, The Cavaliers' beast-in-training singed Syracuse for 20 points - the second time she's reached the 20-point plateau in her five-game college career.

Monet Tellier, Virginia Tech: The talented Hokies junior finally caught fire Sunday against George Washington, posting 19 points in a 50-31 victory. Tech's leading scorer last season, Tellier had opened the 2012-13 campaign with just 16 points in her first three games combined.

Rachael Bilney, Richmond - Led the way in Saturday's victory over Wichita State with a season-high 20 points.

Other highlights from the week that was:

Best game

JMU 89, Green Bay 86 (OT). There were 239 Division I games played from last Wednesday through Sunday. It's hard to imagine any of the other 238 being more exciting.

Team of the week

First Radford hung 85 points on Southern Illinois in a 23-point victory. Then the Highlanders played Miami to a 46-46 tie after nearly 30 minutes on the 'Canes' own floor before things got away. The rest of the Big South had better recognize - this is shaping up to be the most dangerous Radford team in years.

Heartbreakers

- DePaul 68, Hampton 67: The Lady Pirates led by 13 with a little over 9 minutes remaining and never trailed in the second half until Anna Martin's free throw with 3 seconds left.
- Syracuse 74, Virginia 73 - After two Kelsey Wolfe free throws put the Cavs up 73-72, Pitts was whistled for a foul with 0.4 seconds left. Syracuse's Elashier Hall drained both free throws.
- New Mexico State 55, George Mason 52: A Saunders layup got Mason to within two with 1:01 to play, but the Patriots missed their final two shots and were unable to get off a third in the final 10 seconds.

Whatever happened to....

After starring in Richmond's first two games, Okoro did not play in Saturday's 79-48 loss to Green Bay. (Update: Okoro tore an ACL in Friday's victory over Wichita State and is out for the season)...Hampton's Alyssa Bennett (11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) also did not appear in the Lady Pirates' 70-59 loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday. It was the second time in less than a week Bennett was out of the lineup. She also sat out Hampton's 87-35 home victory over Chicago State on Nov. 18. (Update: According to the Virgin Island Daily News Bennett suffered a broken toe on Nov. 16 against LSU and has been trying to play through the pain). Also from Hampton, center Verdine Warner has missed the Lady Pirates' last four games. The junior college transfer posted 17 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocks in Hampton's season opener but saw just 24 combined minutes in HU's next two games...JMU played all three of its Cancun Challenge games without sophomore forward Toia Giggetts, who was held out after she sustained a concussion...Norfolk State continues to be without starting guard Rae Corbo, who suffered an ACL injury on Nov. 15 against South Carolina-Upstate and is out for the season.

JMU, Richmond, Hampton in action today

JMU's Tarik Hislop

A huge holiday stretch of games kicks off Thanksgiving Day with three contests in exotic locales. Here's how we see them:

Cancun Challenge, Cancun, Mexico
Richmond (1-3) vs. Minnesota (4-0), 1 p.m.
All four of the Golden Gophers' victories have come in their own Williams Arena, a place where they went 15-4 last season. That they went just 4-13 in road/neutral games suggests some regression to the mean in their performance today. That said, the Spiders will still be up against it today and will have to avoid the tendency to play too fast that has cost them in close losses to Miami, Boston University and Hartford (by the way, those teams have a combined record of 9-3). We think the Spiders will rise to the challenge and deliver its best effort of the season. They'll need to. Richmond 67, Minnesota 62

Paradise Jam, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Hampton (4-0) vs. South Carolina (4-0)
The Gamecocks will be Hampton's third SEC opponent in its last four games and its most challenging foe to date. But the reverse is also true - the Lady Pirates represent the most daunting opponent South Carolina (wins over Elon, Louisiana Tech, Savannah State and Clemson) has seen as well. In addition, the Lady Pirates typically travel well, and we know they are very excited about this opportunity. Hampton will need to control its turnovers, hold its own on the boards and have a player or two find success from the perimeter. We like their chances. Hampton 70, South Carolina 66

Cancun Challenge, Cancun, Mexico
James Madison (1-2) vs. Green Bay (2-0), 6 p.m.
JMU is still sorting through combinations and trying to integrate new players while Green Bay is still getting used to a new coach (Kevin Borseth). In other words, neither team is quite what they are going to be. So far, though, Green Bay has played closer to its normal standard. If this game were to be played a month from now, we'd feel better about the Dukes' chances. Today, though, they'll need to perform at a level they haven't quite found yet. Green Bay 62, JMU 56

ODU's Lewis, Richmond's Oliver leave Israeli team; VCU's Hurt remains

And then there was one.

Three of LadySwish's own -- Courtney Hurt, Abby Oliver and Tia Lewis -- as we reported earlier were set to play for Elizur Netanya in Israel. Netanya is a bustling resort city, about 18 miles from Tel Aviv -- and 63 miles from Gaza, which has been part of a bombing campaign that has made international headlines.

Richmond's Oliver has left the country, citing on her Twitter, "I came home from Israel due to the situation there," and Old Dominion's Lewis is also no longer on the team.

VCU's Hurt, who scored 20 points in her professional debut this week, opted to stay.

"Netanya is a real safe area in Israel, and today a ceasefire was announced, so hopefully everything will settle down," Hurt says. "My coaches and their families are still in Netanya, and that assured me a little bit about the situation. My coaches have children of their own and would never risk their lives or the lives of their athletes. I am still taking it day by day, as this is a serious situation. I'm just so grateful that I am not near Gaza and haven't had to be directly involved in any of the bombing and missiles."

Elizur Netanya has signed Maurita Reid (Miami), Chastity Reed (Arkansas-Little Rock) and Porsha Phillips (Georgia) to replace the departed players; Notre Dame's Charel Allen also left.

Hurt says she plans to spend Thanksgiving preparing a meal with her new teammates.

"I have three new teammates, so building chemistry is a must," she says. "I am the only rookie now."

We wish Hurt the best and will continue to follow her pro career that is off to a great start. We'll also try to catch up with Tia and Abby to find out what's next for both.

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.

Silent Majority Report No. 2 (through Nov. 18)

Dedicated to the belief that the term "mid-major" is an insult to the majority of Division I teams.

Non-BCS programs continue to make major statements when given opportunities to host the more-celebrated BCS teams.

Last Friday, Hampton knocked off visiting LSU 67-58. The Lady Pirates led by 15-20 throughout most of the final 30 minutes. Later that evening, Gonzaga also scored a 9-point home victory over the Big Ten's Wisconsin.

The following day, St. Joseph's of the Atlantic 10 shocked then-No. 5 Maryland 50-49 at Hagan Arena. And on Sunday, Dayton (Vanderbilt), South Dakota State (Nebraska), UTEP (Arizona State) and Long Beach State (Washington) all thrived in the familiar surroundings and engineered victories.

BCS programs still win the vast majority of these matchups, 70 percent (69.8, to be exact) of which have been true road games for the non-BCS team. But while non-BCS home or neutral site games make up just 30 percent of these contests, non-BCS teams have actually scored more wins in these 46 games than they have in 109 road contests.

The raw numbers (through games of Nov. 18)
Total number of BCS vs. non-BCS games: 156
Overall record: BCS 131, non-BCS 25
When non-BCS team is at home or at a neutral site: BCS 34, non-BCS 13
When non-BCS team is on the road: BCS 97, non-BCS 12

Laundry list
The non-BCS victories over BCS programs (through Nov. 18)

Nov. 9
Youngstown State (Horizon) 64, Pitt (Big East) 50 (road)
Old Dominion (CAA) 55, Virginia Tech (ACC) 35 (road)
Drexel (CAA) 60, Providence (Big East) 50 (road)
Boston University (America East) 52, Boston College (ACC) 46 (home)
Valparaiso (Horizon) 64, Indiana (Big Ten) 52 (home)
Chattanooga (Southern) 80, Tennessee (SEC) 71 (home)
Nov. 10
Dayton (Atlantic 10) 92, DePaul (Big East) 80 (road)
Nov. 11
Presbyterian (Big South) 49, Clemson (ACC) 46 (road)
Gonzaga (WCC) 63, USC (Pac-12) 52 (road)

St. Mary’s 78 (WCC), Oregon (Pac-12) 69 (road)
South Dakota State 65 (Summit), Washington State (Pac-12) 56 (neutral)
Nov. 12

Hampton (MEAC) 56, Mississippi State (SEC) 48 (road)
Cal Poly (Big West) 72, Oregon State (Pac-12) 62 (road)
Nov. 14
Temple (Atlantic 10) 54, Seton Hall (Big East) 38 (home)
Charlotte (Atlantic 10) 82, TCU (Big 12) 68 (road)
Nov. 15
New Mexico (Mountain West) 65, Texas Tech (Big 12) 61 (home)
Bradley (Missouri Valley) 83, Illinois (Big Ten) 77 (road)
Portland State (Big Sky) 87, Oregon (Pac-12) 85 (OT) (road)
Nov. 16
Hampton (MEAC) 67, LSU (SEC) 58 (home)
Gonzaga (WCC) 62, Wisconsin (Big Ten) 53 (home)
Nov. 17
St. Joseph's (Atlantic 10) 50, Maryland (ACC) 49 (home)
Nov. 18
Dayton (Atlantic 10) 71, Vanderbilt (SEC) 66 (home)
South Dakota State (Summit) 60, Nebraska (Big Ten) 55 (home)
UTEP (C-USA) 60, Arizona State (Pac-12) 54 (home)
Long Beach State (Big West) 71, Washington (Pac-12) 62 (home)

Who's hot?

A non-partisan ranking of non-BCS teams based solely on results to date:

1. Dayton (4-0) - Congrats to the Flyers for cracking the AP Top 25. Interestingly, the Flyers' toughest game to date wasn't at DePaul or against Vanderbilt but last Wednesday against visiting Toledo. Dayton had to rally from a 9-point second-half deficit before surviving 79-76. Coming up: Buffalo Friday, Eastern Illinois Saturday in the Flyers' own Marriott Classic.

2. Chattanooga (3-0) - Early success dampened by a knee injury suffered by center Faith Dupree in the Mocs' 81-48 rout of East Tennessee State. The 6-3 redshirt junior has a torn MCL and a sprain and is expected to be out 10 weeks. Coming up: Portland State Friday, St. Mary's Saturday in St. Mary's Thanksgiving Tournament.

3. Hampton (4-0) - The Lady Pirates highlighted Sunday's 87-35 rout of Chicago State with the following statistics - 21 assists, 7 turnovers. Coming up: South Carolina Thursday, DePaul Friday and Florida Gulf Coast Saturday in the Virgin Islands' Paradise Jam

4. Gonzaga (4-0) - The Zags aren't just good, they're defensively consistent. Their point totals allowed in the four victories: 53, 52, 53 and 51. Coming up: Missouri State Tuesday, Louisville or Central Florida Wednesday and an opponent to be determined Thursday in the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

5. Hartford (4-0) - Victories over Marist and Richmond indicate the Hawks have no intention of reprising last year's disappointing 13-loss season. Coming up: at UMass Wednesday, home vs. St. John's Sunday.

Loose change

It's way too early for this to mean a whole lot, but for what it's worth, here are the 64 Division I teams that remain unbeaten through games of Nov. 19:

America East
Hartford (4-0); New Hampshire (2-0)
ACC
N.C. State (3-0); UNC (4-0); Florida State (3-0); Virginia (3-0); Duke (2-0)
Atlantic Sun
Mercer (3-0)
Atlantic 10
Dayton (3-0); Charlotte (3-0); St. Bonaventure (3-0); Fordham (3-0)
Big East
Syracuse (3-0); Louisville (3-0); South Florida (2-0); UConn (2-0); Notre Dame (2-0)
Big Sky
Portland State (2-0); Montana State (2-0)
Big South
Campbell (3-0); Charleston Southern (2-0)
Big Ten
Minnesota (4-0); Northwestern (2-0); Purdue (2-0); Michigan State (3-0); Penn State (3-0)
Big 12
West Virginia (3-0); Oklahoma State (3-0); Kansas State (2-0); Texas (2-0); Kansas (3-0); Iowa State (2-0)
Big West
Pacific (3-0)
CAA
Old Dominion (3-0); Towson (2-0)
Conference USA
Tulane (3-0); UTEP (3-0)
Horizon
Green Bay (2-0); Youngstown State (3-0)
Independents
None
Ivy
None
MAAC
None
MAC
None
MEAC
Hampton (4-0)
Missouri Valley
None
Mountain West
Boise State (3-0); Wyoming (2-0); New Mexico (3-0)
Northeast
Quinnipiac (2-0); St. Francis Pa (3-0); St. Francis NY (2-0)
Ohio Valley
Eastern Kentucky (3-0)
Pac-12
Stanford (5-0); Utah (3-0); Arizona (3-0); California (2-0); UCLA (2-0);
Colorado (2-0)
Patriot
None
SEC
Alabama (4-0); South Carolina (4-0); Missouri (3-0); Georgia (4-0); Arkansas (3-0)
Southern
Chattanooga (3-0)
Southland
Central Arkansas (3-0)
Summit
Nebraska Omaha (2-0)
Sun Belt
South Alabama (3-0); Western Kentucky (3-0)
SWAC
None
West Coast
Gonzaga (4-0)
WAC
Texas State (2-0)


Thanks for making it this far. Happy holidays, everybody!

Chatting with Jackie Cook about ODU, Wendy, her dog and more

LadySwish loved chatting with Old Dominion senior Jackie Cook, this week's CAA Player of the Week after averaging 18 points and 7.5 rebounds against USC Upstate and VCU. The guard from Hinkley, Ohio, also added six assists, seven steals and one block for the week.

Cook opened the season with 17 points and nine boards against Virginia Tech. The Lady Monarchs are 3-0.

We've heard folks noting you've lost weight and are in better shape this season. What's your take?

I did lose a little weight, but really I toned up. Everyone says, 'You've lost all this weight!' Not really, but I did so many workouts during the day in the offseason. I wasn't happy with the way our season went last year, and it is my senior year and my team. I was going to make sure I was in the best shape possible coming into my senior year, so it wasn't going to be anything like last year.

You were recruited by former coach Wendy Larry, who spoke highly of your maturity in addition to your game when you signed (Larry took Cook out on her boat during Cook's visit.) Was Wendy leaving a hard adjustment for you?

Duke

Definitely. That's the coach who recruited me, so there was uncertainty with me being a young player at that. But everything happens for a reason. I wish her the best of luck. She's a great lady, legendary coach.

Do you keep in touch?

She always calls me on my birthday. She's so good with birthdays, which is so cool. Every now and then, she'll shoot me a text and I'll shoot her a text. My family keeps in touch with all my old coaches.

Despite all the good things happening with your team, this probably wasn't the career you envisioned. Can you talk about that?

I'm a winner at heart. I despise losing. It's just about adapting to the adversity that comes your way and being able to overcome things, just knowing that at the end of the day, this is what God had in store for me. Everyone thinks it's so crazy and it's not worth talking about us in the NCAAs, but that's what we're going for. We're dreaming big. That's what we want.

How do you feel about ODU not being able to compete for a CAA Tournament championship?

Horrible. It's not our fault. We didn't choose to switch conferences. It hurts because they punish the athletes for it. Our school has big plans and is doing big things changing conferences, but we're in the crossfire, which stinks, but there's nothing we can do about it.

Tell us outside of basketball what is important to you.

I have a strong support system with my family. My brother, Connor, plays football at Michigan State. My parents go back and forth. (He's a redshirt freshman QB.) I have a big old English mastiff named Duke. He's our good luck charm for the team. He's 6, so I got him when I was a freshman in high school. My parents dress him up in ODU stuff and put shirts on him and send me pictures all the time. I just put one on Twitter.

Why the name Duke?

He actually was named for Duke, the school. When I was a (high school) freshman, I loved Duke. My brother came up with the name, actually.

What other hobbies do you have?

I love working out. I'm big into CrossFit. If I had the opportunity, I would do CrossFit all year round. I love the kettle bell. I love fashion.

Who do you enjoy watching play the game?

I enjoy watching NBA, but there's not one specific person I love. I used to love LeBron. He's a phenomenal player, but there's bad blood there. (Hint: Her hometown is a half hour away from Cleveland.)

What do you see in your future?

I would love to play overseas. I'd love to be able to see the world through basketball. I was always interested in sports broadcasting, but I've recently become interested in being an NFL sideline reporter.

Talk about this year's Lady Monarch team.

We're a lot closer. Trust has developed. Last year it was all  new people. We didn't really have chemistry and know each other. When you don't know someone, you can't trust them. Coach is a ball of energy and she's always positive. That's what she preaches with us like a sandwich: Give a positive, negative, positive.

Your secret indulgence?

I love coffee. Starbucks. I get a vanilla latte, but I've recently switched to the pumpkin spice latte.