It will be a bittersweet experience when Old Dominion fans settle into their seats in the new, sparkling Ted Constant Convocation Center at the start of the 2002-03 basketball season.

The Monarch and Lady Monarch faithful who crowded into the Field House year after year to follow their favorite teams and players will no doubt experience a sense of loss. This aging, storied facility, with its intimate bleacher seating and acoustics that often elevated the noise to near-deafening levels, this medium for 32 seasons of spectacular hoops highlights, was without question a significant part of the message known as Old Dominion basketball.

As they bid farewell to this venerable venue, though, fans can take comfort in the memories they will carry with them - from Sonny Allen's Runnin' Monarchs and his 1975 NCAA Division II championship team to the Lady Monarch dynasty, started by coach Marianne Stanley, Nancy Lieberman and company. The women's program produced three national titles between 1979 and 1985, but perhaps just as important to the fans were the many individual players who won the hearts of young and old down through the years.

Monarch Highlights

- 1970-71 - ODU defeats Auburn in the Kiwanis Classic finals, and upends crosstown rival Norfolk State, 102-97, in the NCAA regional finals.

- 1972-73 - Monarchs upset defending NCAA Division II national champion Roanoke, 68-63; Joel Copeland scores 25. They defeat eventual national champion Kentucky Wesleyan, 125-112, led by Ricky Michaelson's 45 points.

- 1973-74 - ODU defeats Rollins in the NCAA regional first round, 80-77; Copeland pours in a regional-record 44 points to go with 13 boards.

- 1974-75 - Monarchs go 14-0 at home and send Randolph-Macon packing after an 83-76 victory in the NCAA Division II regional finals. Oliver Purnell scores 25 and Wilson Washington grabs 11 rebounds.

- 1975-76 - In its final Division II season, ODU defeats Cheyney State 90-85 in the NCAA quarterfinals. Washington has 26 points and 14 rebounds.

- 1976-77 - ODU finishes 11-0 in its first season in Division I, its last full season at the Field House before moving games to Scope.

- 1998-99 - Monarchs defeat Seton Hall by 19 in the NIT first round. Cal Bowdler has 20 points and 14 rebounds.

- 2000-01 - Clifton Jones hauls in an NCAA Division I season-high 23 rebounds against UNC Wilmington.

Lady Monarch Highlights

- 1974-75 - ODU defeats Virginia Tech, 95-82, in the first Donna Doyle Scholarship game.

- 1976-77 - The 20th-ranked Lady Monarchs host their first No. 1-ranked visitor, Delta State.

- 1978-79 - Nancy Lieberman scores 29 points in a 90-60 win over UCLA. ODU defeats Tennessee, 71-56, before an overflow crowd of 5,200.

- 1980-81 - No. 3 ODU defeats No. 8 Southern Cal, 74-63, in the Donna Doyle Scholarship game. Anne Donovan finishes the season with a school-record 25.1 scoring average.

- 1981-82 - On Jan. 29, No. 7 ODU hands eventual national champion No. 1 Louisiana Tech its only loss of the year, 61-58, ending the Lady Techsters' 54-game win streak.

- 1983-84 - Medina Dixon has 21 points and 11 rebounds as No. 7 ODU defeats No. 1 Louisiana Tech, 66-64.

- 1984-85 - Dixon scores 18 as No. 5 ODU defeats No. 7 Ohio State, 72-68, in the NCAA regional finals. Lady Monarchs go on to win the national title, knocking off Georgia.

- 1989-90 - Kelly Lyons pours in 42 points in a win over Texas.

- 1993-94 - Celeste Hill collects a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 12 steals in a victory over VCU.

- 1996-97 - Nyree Roberts scores 19 points as No. 4 ODU convincingly upsets No. 1 Stanford, 83-66. Ticha Penicheiro rises to the occasion a career-high 25 points as No. 2 ODU defeats No. 9 Tennessee, 83-72. Clarisse Machanguana has 23 points and 11 boards in a 69-65 overtime win over Purdue in the NCAA second round.

- 1998-99 - Lucienne Berthieu records 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 8 ODU to an 82-77 come-from-behind win over No. 4 UConn.

- 2000-01 - Lady Monarchs defeat JMU, 66-62, to win an NCAA-record 10th-straight CAA Conference title.

- 2001-02 - In their final game at the Field House on March 9, the Lady Monarchs beat UNC Wilmington for their 11th CAA crown, and later advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual champion UConn.