NORFOLK, Va. — Nearly 5,000 Norfolk elementary school students celebrated every Old Dominion basket by yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs on Tuesday, and the Monarchs gave the crowd a lot to cheer for.
The ODU women's basketball team overwhelmed Lincoln University, 81-64, on a day when, as Monarch coach DeLisha Milton-Jones put it, the kids in the stands were the stars.
It was ODU's annual Education Day game in which the Norfolk City Schools give kids a day off just before the Christmas holidays to enjoy a basketball game. Only a handful of the 5,999 fans on hand weren't Norfolk students or teachers.
"The kids were fantastic," Milton-Jones said. "They were full of candy and soda and did what they were supposed to do. They supplied the energy.
"I wish we could have (Education Day) once a month. It would be great for the kids to be able to have a moment of reprieve where they can just come out and get loose and wild because they deserve it.
"They work so hard in school."
Lincoln (3-5) is a member of the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in the same league with Virginia State and Elizabeth City State. The Lions, who have five starters returning from last season's CIAA championship team, were outmuscled by the taller and more talented Monarchs.
The Monarchs looked to break after every missed shot and pounded the ball inside when not on the break. As a result, ODU outscored the Lions, 19-3, on the fast break and 50-30 in the paint.
Center Jada Duckett, the 6-foot-2, junior transfer from Miami of Ohio, made seven of nine shots to lead the Monarchs with 16 points and set a new career high.
It was the fourth victory in a row for ODU (6-3), which, early-on, had trouble developing the kind of chemistry the team needs with eight transfers playing with six newcomers.
After a disappointing 71-68 loss at Elon on Nov. 22, the Monarchs have beaten Coppin State, Temple and USC Upstate, in addition to Lincoln.
"It was only a matter of time before our eight new players became accustomed and adjusted to the six returners," Milton-Jones said. "Everyone is starting to understand the offensive and defensive philosophies.
"You see a level of consistency on both ends of the floor."
"This was a great win for us, but we still have some things we need to work on before we can consider ourselves in the category of a good or great team."
ODU never trailed but had some trouble putting Lincoln away. Lincoln's Rayniah Walker made a short jump shot with 1:49 left in the first half to trim what had been a 14-point lead to five.
ODU then put the game out of reach in the third quarter outscoring the Lions, 20-14, to take a 56-38 lead on an Amari Young jump shot.
Young had her second double-double in a row and third of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Point guard Jordan McLaughlin, the transfer from Chipola junior college, had 14 points and six assists while Makayla Dickens, the graduate transfer from Boston College, had 11 points.
Young said this Education Day is one she looked forward to. In part because of the pandemic, this was ODU's first Education Day since her freshman year.
ODU was one of the nation's pioneers in women's basketball Education Day games when they began a couple of decades ago. The late Jackie Barrow, who passed away this past summer, helped build ODU's Education Day games into among the most successful in the country.
"It was really awesome to have them in the stands today because we never have that many people" at home games, Young said.
"It was nostalgic for me. It felt really good."
It was the first Education Day for Duckett. "I loved hearing the kids scream," she said. "It gave us a lot of juice. It really pumped us up."
Kids began filing into Chartway Arena at 10:30 a.m. and the last didn't leave until 2 p.m., an hour after the game.
The crowd made constant noise during the game, even during timeouts. ODU taught the kids how to dance to "Ice Cream and Cake," and when the song began to play, they stood and juked to the music.
Hundreds hugged Big Blue, the ODU mascot, and exchanged high fives with the Monarchs at game's end.
Lincoln coach Janice Washington said her team enjoyed the game even if they didn't like the final outcome.
"Playing in front of a crowd like this prepares us for what it's going to be like in the CIAA Tournament," she said. "And this is such a good thing for all women's basketball.
"You hope these kids go home and tell their family what a good time they had and perhaps the family will come to games."
ODU closes out the week, the last week of classes before exams next week, with two big challenges at Chartway Arena.
On Thursday at 6:30, the Monarchs host VCU, a traditional rival that is 3-6 but upset Wisconsin two weeks ago. Then, on Sunday at 2, the Monarchs host Norfolk State, which is 9-1 and whose only loss was a 67-61 defeat at Penn State.