University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Maryland
Women's Basketball Falls at #25 Maryland, 79-70
12/02/2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team hung around with the 25th ranked Maryland Terrapins for much of the afternoon, but couldn't quite pull off the upset as the Spiders fell 79-70 at Cole Field House Sunday afternoon. Richmond used a balanced scoring attack to stay in the game, but the Terps put the contest away from the free throw line in the second half.
The Spiders jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but the Terps answered with an 18-4 run over the next seven minutes to take a 22-14 advantage midway through the first half. Richmond would tighten up the defense and hold Maryland without a field goal for 5:35 as the Spiders closed the gap to 22-20 on a basket by senior point guard Michele Koclanes (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial). The Terps would then run-off 10 straight points as they held the Spiders scoreless for a five-minute span, taking a 32-20 lead with 2:26 to play in the half. Junior forward Krystn Gull (Asheville, N.C./Erwin) knocked down a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half to make it a 35-25 game at the intermission.
Richmond chipped away at the Maryland lead in the second half as the Spiders would cut the deficit to two, 51-49, with 9:14 left in the game. However, Maryland would go on another run, this time 8-0 over the next 2:43, to widen its advantage to 10 points. The Maryland lead hovered around 10 for the next few minutes as they made their last field goal at 3:42 to build a 12-point cushion. The Spiders got back in the game as the Terps missed four of six free throws over a 44 second span, while junior center Ebony Tanner (Garner, N.C./Ravenscroft) made two free throws, junior guard Elise Ryder (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) would bury one of her three three-pointers on the afternoon, and then Koclanes would convert a field goal with 43 seconds to play as the Spiders fought within three points, 71-68. The Terps would however convert their final eight free throws to hold off the Spiders and claim a 79-70 victory.
Maryland got 26 of its 44 second half points from the charity stripe as the Terps went 26-of-32 from the line in the second stanza (including their final 12 points) and 30-of-38 for the game, compared to Richmond's 10-of-13 for the contest. Richmond did win the battle of the boards 39-33 as Tanner finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with a team-high 15 points to post her second double-double of the season. Turnovers hurt the Spiders though as Maryland had 25 points off Spider miscues while Richmond scored only seven points off Maryland turnovers. Koclanes finished with 14 points and seven assists while sophomore guard Amber Goppert (Malone, N.Y./Franklin Academy) and Ryder each also produced double-digit games, scoring 12 and 11, respectively.
Richmond (2-5) returns to action Wednesday afternoon as the Spiders will travel cross-town to face the VCU Rams. Tip-off at the Siegel Center is set for 2:30 p.m.
