University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Fordham
Women's Basketball Falls to Fordham in Atlantic 10 Opener, 75-53
01/02/2002 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2002
BRONX, N.Y. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team played its inaugural Atlantic 10 contest Wednesday night as it fell to the Fordham Rams, 75-53. It wasn't the outing the Spiders were looking for in their first game in the Atlantic 10 as the conference's highest-scoring team was held to a season-low 53 points.
Fordham controlled the game early as it jumped out to a 19-9 lead midway through the first half. Over the next 3:30, Richmond junior guard Elise Ryder (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) scored the Spiders' next eight points on two three-pointers and two free throws, but the team still trailed by double-digits. The Rams would grab their largest lead of the game, 15 points, in the final minute of the first half before taking a 39-25 advantage into the intermission. Richmond made only eight field goals in the first half as it shot 27.6% from the floor, compared to the 51.9% shot by Fordham.
The Rams extended their lead to 20 by the 13:28 mark of the second half, 52-32. The Spiders would then go on an 8-0 run sparked by five straight points from senior point guard Michele Koclanes (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) to pull within 12 points, but that's as close as the Spiders would get to the Rams the rest of the way. Junior forward Krystn Gull (Asheville, N.C./Erwin) scored eight points in the second half and finished the game with 11, the only Spider to reach double-digits as the team shot a season-low 30.9% from the field. Junior center Ebony Tanner (Garner, N.C./Ravenscroft) did a solid job for the Spiders on the boards as she grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, although the Spiders were still outrebounded, 41-31, and lost the battle of the points in the paint, 36-14. Fordham was led by guard Patty Williams' career-high tying 19 points, as the Rams took advantage of 23 Richmond turnovers to outscore the Spiders 29-8 in points off turnovers.
The loss drops Richmond's record to 6-8, 0-1 in the Atlantic 10 as Fordham improves to 3-8, 1-0 in league play. The Spiders will next play at Saint Joseph's on Saturday, January 5 at 2:00 p.m.
