University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
William & Mary
Richmond Outlasts William & Mary, 72-65
02/07/2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2001
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Spider junior point guard Michele Koclanes (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) scored a team-high 18 points, dished off eight assists and connected on a big three-pointer late in the game to bolster the University of Richmond women's basketball team to a 72-65 victory over William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association action at William & Mary Hall tonight.
Joining Koclanes in double figures for the Spiders (13-10, 7-4 CAA) were freshman guard Amber Goppert (Constable, N.Y./Franklin Academy) with 15 points and sophomore guard Elise Ryder (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) with 11 points. Richmond went to the foul line 28 times for the contest, including on 22 occasions in the second half. In addition, Richmond held William & Mary to 37.5 percent shooting from the field for the game, marking the second straight contest that a Spider opponent has shot under 40 percent.
"I was pleased that we were able to attack the basket and get to the foul line," said Richmond head women's basketball coach Bob Foley. "We came out in the second half, played with more intensity defensively and really got after the boards in the final half. When teams are playing conference games, it is a battle every night. I'm proud of the effort of our players and the way that they responded to clutch situations down the stretch."
William & Mary (8-13, 4-6 CAA) was paced by sophomore guard Jen Sobota and freshman guard Kelly Ercole's 19 points each. Both players had 15 of their points from three-point territory. Tribe freshman forward Ornit Schwartz delivered a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.
After falling behind 17-6 in the opening stages of the first half, Richmond stormed back and caught the Tribe at 26-all with 3:09 on the clock following a Carolyn Constantakis (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) three-pointer. William & Mary built its lead back to five points (31-26), but Richmond scored the final nine points preceding halftime and owned a 35-31 advantage at intermission. Richmond sophomore forward Cammy Desmond (Midlothian, Va./James River) provided five points and Ryder had three in that stretch. Richmond forced William & Mary to the perimeter as the Tribe shot a better percentage from three-point territory (.417) than from the field (.353) in the first half. However, William & Mary controlled the backboards in the initial 20 minutes, out-boarding Richmond, 25-16, with Schwartz accounting for eight rebounds.
Richmond ballooned its lead to eight points on two occasions midway through the second half, but the Tribe responded, slicing the margin to 59-57 with 3:59 to go. On the ensuing possession, with the shot clock ready to expire, Koclanes connected on a three-pointer at the elbow of the arc to put the Spiders ahead 62-57 with 2:43 remaining.
"Aftrer that shot, I said, 'This is our night," commented Foley.
Following the Koclanes trey, the Spiders scored the contest's next four points and led 66-57 with :51 to go.
Over the Spiders past six games, Koclanes has been one of the Spiders most effective players, averaging 12.8 points per game and 8.7 assists per game. In that same stretch, her assist-to-tournover ratio is +5.83.
Winners of three of its past four games, the Spiders resume conference action on Thursday, February 18, visiting James Madison at 7 p.m.
