NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion used a strong start to the second half to earn a 65-50 win over the Tigers on Wednesday night in the regular season finale for both squads. Seniors Krystin Fields and Krystal Parnell led the Tigers (16-13, 7-11 CAA) with 16 points each in the contest.

With the loss on Wednesday night, the Tigers will now face Lady Monarchs (10-20, 7-11 CAA) next week in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament.

“Old Dominion played an extremely strong second half and it cost us,” said Coach Joe Mathews. “Hopefully we can put this game behind us, we feel like the tournament is the start of a new season and anything is possible.”

The two teams found themselves tied at 5-5, early in the first half of the game. Sophomore guard Tanisha McTiller hit a jumper at 14:35 to start an 8-2 run by the visitors. That run allowed Towson to open up a 13-7 lead with 11:11 to play in the half. Old Dominion responded by scoring five straight points to make it a 13-12 game with 10:42 remaining in the half. The visitors then scored nine of the next 12 points in the game to take a 22-15 lead with 6:29 left on the clock. Fields had four of the Tigers' nine during that stretch. Five straight points from Old Dominion's Jackie Cook pulled the home team to within two, 22-20. The Tigers would score five of the final seven points in the half to take a 27-22 lead at the break.

The Tigers shot 30.6% from the field in the first 20 minutes to Old Dominion's 29.2%. Towson held a 24-20 advantage on the boards and was led by Parnell, who scored 10 first half points.

Old Dominion opened the second half on a 14-1 run to turn a five-point halftime deficit into a 36-29 lead with 12:34 to play in the game. Mari Buchan connected on a pair of three-pointers for the Lady Monarchs during that stretch. After a jumper from freshman guard Ciara Webb briefly broke up the home team's run, Old Dominion rattled off seven straight points to take a 43-31 lead with 10:01 to play. Towson responded with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the Old Dominion lead to 45-41 with 7:05 remaining. Fields scored six of the 10 points during that stretch for the Tigers. The Lady Monarchs would use a 12-0 run to take a 57-41 lead with 2:59 to play. The home team advantage would fluctuate between 13 and 16 points over the final three minutes of action before ending at 65-50..

Old Dominion shot 61.9% from the field in the second half and made five three-pointers. The Lady Monarchs finished the game shooting 44.4% from the field. Towson shot 29% from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 29.9%. Old Dominion finished the game holding a 41-39 edge in the rebounding battle.

Fields had 12 rebounds to go along with her 16 points and finished the game with her second “double-double” of the year. Parnell contributed four rebounds and four assists to go with her 16 tallies. McTiller contributed nine points.

Cook led Old Dominion with 20 points and five rebounds while Buchan had 12 points and eight rebounds. Tia Lewis was the third player in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Towson, which will be the ninth seeded for the upcoming CAA Championship will face Old Dominion at noon on March 8 at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md.