1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team

1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
Sun Belt tournament champions
Sun Belt regular season champions
Wildcat Invitational Champion
Optimist Classic Champion
Holiday Tournament Champion
ConferenceSun Belt Conference
Ranking
APNo. 5
Record31–3 (6–0 Sun Belt)
Head coach
Home arenaODU Fieldhouse
Norfolk Scope (alternate)
Seasons
← 1983–84
1985–86 →
1984–85 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Old Dominion † 6 – 0   1.000 31 – 3   .912
No. 14 WKU 5 – 1   .833 28 – 6   .824
UAB 4 – 2   .667 14 – 15   .483
South Alabama 3 – 3   .500 19 – 10   .655
UNC Charlotte 2 – 4   .333 13 – 12   .520
VCU 1 – 5   .167 8 – 19   .296
South Florida 0 – 6   .000 8 – 18   .308
† 1985 Sun Belt tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team represented Old Dominion University during the 1984–85 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Monarchs, led by eighth-year head coach Marianne Stanley, played their home games at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse, and alternatively at the Norfolk Scope, in Norfolk, Virginia. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

After finishing the season 26–3 with an undefeated conference record following their conference tournament, the Lady Monarchs were awarded the first seed of the eastern regional bracket and regional home-field advantage for the 1985 NCAA women's basketball tournament. They won their first three playoff games at the ODU Fieldhouse and advanced to the Final Four.

Old Dominion faced Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana–Monroe) in the national semifinals. The Monarchs won 57–47 and were helped from a 1–3–1 half-court trap that prevented NE Louisiana from scoring for five and a half minutes after taking an early lead in the first half.[1]

The Lady Monarchs were able to defeat the Georgia Lady Bulldogs 70–65, despite making only 38.2 percent of field goal attempts.[2] They brought home the first NCAA basketball championship for Old Dominion University.[3] Center Tracy Claxton was awarded most outstanding player in the championship game.

Roster

1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Hometown
F 3 Dawn Cullen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Jr Norfolk, VA
G 11 Marie Christian
—
 So
F 13 Medina Dixon
—
 Sr Boston, MA
C 15 Tracy Claxton
—
 Sr New Haven, CT
G 20 Lisa Blais
—
 Sr
G 23 Bridget Jenkins
—
 So
F 24 Adrienne Goodson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Bayonne, NJ
F 25 Donna Harrington
—
 So
F 32 Alphelia Goodson
—
F 33 Liz Connahan
—
 Fr
—
—
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Wendy Larry - asst. coach
  • Barbara Thaxton - asst. coach
  • Beth Calder - manager
  • Lisa Hendrick - manager
  • Trish Vantucci - manager
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 16, 2023

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 24, 1984*
 No. 3 No. 2 Texas W 90–80  1–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (3,186)
Norfolk, VA
November 28, 1984
 No. 2 VCU
Rivalry 		W 76–41  2–0
(1–0) 		Norfolk Scope (3,480)
Norfolk, VA
November 30, 1984*
 No. 2 vs. Pittsburgh
Wildcat Invitational 		W 98–64  3–0
 Welsh–Ryan Arena (75)
Evanston, IL
December 1, 1984*
 No. 2 vs. Northwestern
Wildcat Invitational 		W 87–85  4–0
 Welsh–Ryan Arena (206)
Evanston, IL
December 4, 1984*
 No. 1 No. 10 Virginia W 80–58  5–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (2,317)
Norfolk, VA
December 7, 1984*
 No. 1 at East Carolina W 92–74  6–0
 Minges Coliseum (350)
Greenville, NC
December 15, 1984*
 No. 1 James Madison
Rivalry 		W 79–43  7–0
 Norfolk Scope (4,982)
Norfolk, VA
December 21, 1984*
 No. 1 Providence
Optimist Classic 		W 98–62  8–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (715)
Norfolk, VA
December 22, 1984*
 No. 1 Vanderbilt
Optimist Classic 		W 96–72  9–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (1,415)
Norfolk, VA
December 28, 1984*
 No. 1 vs. North Carolina
Holiday Tournament 		W 78–64  10–0
 Reynolds Coliseum (650)
Raleigh, NC
December 29, 1984*
 No. 1 vs. No. 13 Kentucky
Holiday Tournament 		W 66–59  11–0
 Reynolds Coliseum (400)
Raleigh, NC
January 4, 1985*
 No. 1 UCLA W 74–58  12–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (3,011)
Norfolk, VA
January 7, 1985*
 No. 1 No. 2 Long Beach State W 84–71  13–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (3,581)
Norfolk, VA
January 11, 1985*
 No. 1 No. 6 USC W 52–48  14–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (4,628)
Norfolk, VA
January 13, 1985*
 No. 1 at No. 12 Kentucky W 64–63  15–0
 Memorial Coliseum (5,200)
Lexington, KY
January 16, 1985*
 No. 1 South Carolina W 79–72  16–0
 ODU Fieldhouse (2,001)
Norfolk, VA
January 25, 1985*
 No. 1 Tennessee
Donna Doyle Scholarship Game 		L 64–67  16–1
 ODU Fieldhouse (4,336)
Norfolk, VA
January 28, 1985
 No. 2 No. 11 Western Kentucky W 76–57  17–1
(2–0) 		ODU Fieldhouse (1,671)
Norfolk, VA
January 30, 1985*
 No. 2 at Virginia Tech W 86–76  18–1
 Cassell Coliseum (306)
Blacksburg, VA
February 1, 1985*
 No. 2 NC State L 64–67  18–2
 ODU Fieldhouse (3,912)
Norfolk, VA
February 5, 1985
 No. 3 South Florida W 72–45  19–2
(3–0) 		ODU Fieldhouse (1,312)
Norfolk, VA
February 9, 1985*
 No. 3 at Maryland W 73–60  20–2
 Cole Field House (850)
College Park, MD
February 13, 1985*
 No. 3 at No. 6 Louisiana Tech L 63–72  20–3
 Thomas Assembly Center (5,970)
Ruston, LA
February 15, 1985*
 No. 3 Boston University W 84–55  21–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (2,200)
Norfolk, VA
February 21, 1985
 No. 7 at South Alabama W 64–56  22–3
(4–0) 		Jaguar Gym (303)
Mobile, AL
February 23, 1985
 No. 7 at UAB W 77–58  23–3
(5–0) 		BJCC Coliseum (350)
Birmingham, AL
February 28, 1985
 No. 7 at UNC Charlotte W 85–57  24–3
(6–0) 		Belk Gymnasium (950)
Charlotte, NC
Sun Belt tournament
March 8, 1985
 (1) No. 5 (3) UAB
Semifinals 		W 95–57  25–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (1,395)
Norfolk, VA
March 9, 1985
 (1) No. 5 (2) No. 14 Western Kentucky
Championship 		W 76–63  26–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (1,697)
Norfolk, VA
NCAA tournament
March 16, 1985*
 (1E) No. 5 (8E) Syracuse
First round 		W 88–63  27–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (1,609)
Norfolk, VA
March 21, 1985*
 (1E) No. 5 (4E) No. 12 NC State
Regional semifinals 		W 77–67  28–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (2,812)
Norfolk, VA
March 23, 1985*
 (1E) No. 5 (2E) No. 7 Ohio State
Regional finals 		W 72–68  29–3
 ODU Fieldhouse (3,086)
Norfolk, VA
March 29, 1985*
 (1E) No. 5 vs. (2MW) No. 2 NE Louisiana
National semifinals 		W 57–47  30–3
 Frank Erwin Center (7,648)
Austin, TX
March 31, 1985*
 (1E) No. 5 vs. (2W) No. 8 Georgia
National championship 		W 70–65  31–3
 Frank Erwin Center (7,597)
Austin, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.
E = East, MW = Midwest, W = West
  • Source: Old Dominion Athletics,[4] NCAA Statistics[5]

Rankings

Main article: 1984–85 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Regular season Poll
Poll Pre-
Season		 Week
2		 Week
3		 Week
4		 Week
5		 Week
6		 Week
7		 Week
8		 Week
9		 Week
10		 Week
11		 Week
12		 Week
13		 Week
14		 Week
15		 Week
16		 Final
AP 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 7 7 5 5
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes


  • Source: Division I Women's Basketball Records[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NCAA Women's Basketball : Georgia, Old Dominion Gain Final". Los Angeles Times. March 30, 1985. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Litsky, Frank (April 1, 1985). "Old Dominion Tops Georgia for Title". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  3. ^ "Old Dominion Muscles Its Way Past Georgia to Title". Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1985. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "1984-85 Women's Basketball Schedule". Old Dominion University. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "1984-85 Old Dominion Women's Basketball stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
  6. ^ "Division I Women's Basketball Records" (PDF). NCAA. pp. 61, 96. Retrieved December 16, 2023.