1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team

1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball
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
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
Record	31–3 (6–0 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Marianne Stanley (8th season);
Home arena	ODU Fieldhouse; Norfolk Scope (alternate)
	Seasons ← 1983–84 1985–86 →

1984–85 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	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

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

Marianne Stanley (Immaculata)

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

Injured
Current redshirt

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

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]

References

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

[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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball
Venues	ODU Fieldhouse (1970–2002) Norfolk Scope (alternate: 1971–2002) Hampton Coliseum (alternate: 1970–1995) Chartway Arena (2002–present)
Rivalries	James Madison Norfolk State VCU William & Mary
Culture & lore	Monarch Pep Band
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

NCAA tournament

Roster

Schedule and results

Rankings

See also

References