NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- After a convincing win to open the season on Tuesday, the Old Dominion women's basketball team now turns its attention to the first of two Power Five opponents on its schedule.
Auburn visits Chartway Arena on Sunday afternoon, with the Monarchs looking to build on their victory over South Carolina State. To help with that, head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones is hoping for some help from the fans.
"Any time you can have the gym filled and the crowds, and the crowd is rowdy and they're all in support of you, I think it's an awesome momentum builder and momentum shifter for your program," she said.
The Monarchs took down South Carolina State, 80-52, to begin their schedule, forcing the Bulldogs into 35 turnovers. Their physical and aggressive style of play was on display from start to finish.
"It was a great win for us overall, but if I had to grade us, I would probably give us a C-plus, and that's because I'm a tough grader," Milton-Jones noted. "I think we had a great opportunity to see what our starting five looks like and how we add in substitution patterns within that and to see how we perform in different circumstances with different line-ups."
Auburn comes to Norfolk coming off a 68-66 loss to Georgia Southern in their first game of the campaign. It marked the Tigers' head coaching debut of Johnnie Harris.
Milton-Jones and ODU look to drop Auburn to 0-2 come the weekend.
"When the crowd is witnessing [energy] on the court, they have no reason not to attach themselves to that energy," the head coach said. "It gets them going and now when they're going, then it just feeds the team even more. It feeds the beast."
Old Dominion and Auburn tip off at 2:00 PM on Sunday.
