University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Liberty
Women's Basketball Douses Lady Flames, 84-71
12/17/2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2001
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team led from start to finish Monday night as the Spiders defeated Liberty University, 84-71, at the Robins Center. Richmond was led by sophomore guard Amber Goppert's (Malone, N.Y./Franklin Academy) 25 points as four Spiders scored in double-figures.
Richmond jumped out to a 12-2 in the first four minutes of the contest, spurred by freshman forward Kate Flavin (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) who had five points during the run and who finished the game with nine points and eight rebounds. The Spiders would maintain a double-digit lead for much of the first half as they twice led by 15 during the first stanza. Goppert had 10 points in the first half as the Spiders led 42-30 at the intermission.
The Lady Flames would start the second half on a 13-7 run to draw within 49-43 at the 16:04 mark. Liberty freshman guard Stephanie Walker had nine of the 13 points during the run as she finished with a team-high 19 points. Richmond would respond with an 8-0 run though as senior point guard Michele Koclanes (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) knocked down a jumper and a three, then Goppert buried another three-pointer to build the lead back up to 14 with 13:36 to play. Liberty would not go away though as it narrowed the gap to six, 69-63, with 5:49 to go. However, Goppert's career-best fifth three-pointer of the game with 1:11 to play ended any hopes of a Liberty comeback as the trifecta put the Spiders up 78-65 as they went on to the 84-71 victory.
Goppert led the Spiders in scoring for the fifth time this season as she finished with a game-high 25 points and a career-high six steals. Koclanes recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 assists while junior center Ebony Tanner (Garner, N.C./Ravenscroft) just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, six of which were of the offensive variety. Junior forward Cammy Desmond (Richmond, Va./James River) also finished in double-digits with 10 points while freshman forward Sandie Walker (York, Pa./William Penn) chipped in with a career-high seven points off the bench. In addition to Liberty's Walker, sophomore guard Agne Jasinskaite scored 15 points while junior center Meribeth Feenstra posted six points and 11 rebounds.
The victory improves the Spiders to 4-6 while the Lady Flames fall to 4-5. Richmond returns to action on Wednesday, December 19 at 6:00 p.m. as the Spiders host Mount St. Mary's in the team's last game at the Robins Center before the new year. Admission to the contest is free and there will be holiday caroling following the game.
