1. Old Dominion Tries to Recapture Success - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29odu.h...
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March 29, 2008
WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT
Old Dominion Tries to Recapture Success
By RAINER SABIN
NORFOLK, Va. — Fifteen minutes from where Jazzmin Walters was raised stands Old Dominion University, a
sprawling 188-acre campus in a coastal city that once was a hub of women’s college basketball.
When she was a child, Walters attended Lady Monarchs games with her father and became well versed in the
history of the program. So it was only fitting that she was the one who made the winning shot in overtime against
Virginia to catapult Old Dominion into the Round of 16 and deliver the message that the Lady Monarchs were still
relevant.
“They didn’t want to give us no credit at all,” said Walters, a spunky 5-foot-2 junior guard. “So that’s what it took.”
Although Old Dominion (31-4) has won the Colonial Athletic Associated title to secure a berth to the N.C.A.A.
tournament in each of the last 17 seasons, it has not been a major player for years. Two decades ago, it began to
cede ground as the popularity of women’s basketball grew and the sport entered the mainstream. Tennessee
surpassed the Lady Monarchs. So did Connecticut (34-1), the top seed over all, which will face Old Dominion on
Sunday in the Greensboro Region semifinal in Greensboro, N.C.
The teams met early this season, on Nov. 23, during the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Huskies defeated
the Lady Monarchs, 86-43, in what was another reminder that Old Dominion has a long way to go to regain elite
status. Although the Lady Monarchs finished the regular season ranked 11th, their diminished stature might have
contributed to the tournament selection committee’s decision to seed them lower than six teams that were behind
them in the rankings.
Coach Wendy Larry has struggled to reconcile the program’s position as a midmajor, given its rich tradition. At
the practice facility, four banners line the far wall, including one that recognizes Old Dominion’s 1985 N.C.A.A.
title. Right beside them are a row of painted jerseys with the names of the sport’s pioneers, many of whom played
at Old Dominion. One of them is Nancy Lieberman.
Earlier this year at her home in Dallas, Lieberman recalled, she was explaining to her son, T. J., that Old
Dominion’s new football program was creating quite a buzz around the campus.
T. J., 13, seemed shocked.
“Old Dominion plays basketball,” he said.
Lieberman smiled.
“We do, and we do it well,” replied Lieberman, who helped guide the Lady Monarchs to national championships

2. Old Dominion Tries to Recapture Success - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29odu.h...
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in 1979 and 1980, when the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women ran the tournament. “We earned
the right to be the top team.”
But in a sport in which colleges like Immaculata, Delta State and Louisiana Tech all ruled briefly, Old Dominion’s
time on the throne did not last long either.
To keep up with the sport’s emerging powers, Larry, who has coached the Lady Monarchs for 21 years, has taken
unorthodox steps. She brought in international recruits, like the Portuguese star Ticha Penicheiro, who led
O.D.U. to the 1997 N.C.A.A. title game. It lost to Tennessee, then faded away once again.
Since then, Lady Monarch players have come and gone while Tennessee and Connecticut have become
entrenched as superpowers. By the time many of the current players were in elementary school, Old Dominion
had lost most of its cachet.
So much time had passed since the Lady Monarchs had made a mark that the senior forward Megan Pym
acknowledged that she was not aware of the program’s fruitful past.
“I didn’t know much,” Pym said. “I’m from upstate New York.”
Last season, after the Lady Monarchs lost in the first round of the N.C.A.A. tournament for the fifth consecutive
time, Pym and her teammates accepted Old Dominion for what it was: a strong team in a not-so-powerful
conference.
“When you think of the history of the game, you think of O.D.U. basketball,” Lieberman said. “I’m proud of them.
They’re still successful. Success is about leadership and teamwork, and they have those components.”
But whether Old Dominion is primed to reclaim its place among the vanguard is uncertain. As Larry was about to
leave the gymnasium where her team had just finished practice, a reporter asked if she thought Old Dominion
was back. She looked over to one of her friends and smiled.
“I don’t think we ever left,” she said.
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