Feb. 21, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Jasmine Parker scored 16 points and No. 10 Old Dominion stayed on track for its first perfect season in the Colonial Athletic Association in seven years, beating Virginia Commonwealth 87-67 on Thursday night.

The Lady Monarchs (23-3, 14-0 CAA), seeking their 17th consecutive league title and first unbeaten season in the CAA since 2001-02, dominated by pounding the ball inside, scoring 40 points in the paint, and adding eight 3-pointers.

Parker hit four of them in as many tries for Old Dominion, Tiffany Green and T.J. Jordan scored 14 each, Jazzmin Walters had 13 and Shahida Williams 12.

The Rams (19-6, 9-5), playing only their second game since post player Quanitra Hollingsworth was lost for the season with an injury, were within 10 at halftime, but could do little to stop the Lady Monarchs once they turned their attention inside.

Old Dominion's first six possessions of the second half yielded layups, and once the Rams tried collapsing to cut off the inside, Parker hit her fourth 3-pointer.

The shot made it 50-34 with 16:22 to play, and while the Rams never let the game get completely out of hand, the Lady Monarchs' sloppiness had a lot to do with it.

Old Dominion finished with 24 turnovers.

Radoslava Bachvarova led the Rams with 17 points, D'Andra Moss added 15 and Krystal Vaughn had 13 and 11 rebounds for VCU. The Rams scored 19 points off turnovers.

The Lady Monarchs led 35-25 at halftime largely on the strength of a 15-2 run in the middle of the half. Parker did most of the damage for the visitors, hitting three 3-pointers in 3 1/2 minutes after coming on when Jazzmin Walters was injured on a drive to the basket.

Walters went to the locker room, but later returned to the game.

VCU outscored the Lady Monarchs 9-4 over the last 2:20 of the half, getting a 3-pointer from Bachvarova with 8 seconds left before intermission to make it 35-25.