University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
George Washington
GW Edges Richmond in Women's Basketball, 85-80
02/10/2002 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2002
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team lost a close contest to the George Washington Colonials Sunday afternoon, 85-80, at the Robins Center. The teams played even for much of the game, but the Spiders went cold down the stretch as the Colonials pulled out the victory to remain unbeaten in the Atlantic 10. Junior center Ebony Tanner (Garner, N.C./Ravenscroft) recorded her seventh double-double of the season in the defeat.
The two teams played a frantic first half with both sides pushing the ball up-and-down the court. Richmond held the largest lead of the first stanza, 15-8, at the 13:53 mark. Junior forward Krystn Gull (Asheville, N.C./Erwin) had eight of the 15 points, including two three-pointers. The rest of the half would go back-and-forth as there were seven ties and the largest lead by either team was four points. Both teams made 15 field goals and six free throws, but the Colonial hit six three-pointers, to Richmond's four, as GW took a 42-40 lead into the locker room.
The Colonials would start the second half quickly as they went on a 12-4 run to take a 54-44 lead with 16:45 to play. The Spiders would answer right back though with a 13-2 run of their own to take their first lead of the second half, 57-56 at 12:05, on a lay-up by sophomore guard Amber Goppert (Malone, N.Y./Franklin Academy). The game would remain close (seven lead changes in the second half) until Richmond went on a spurt to build a six-point lead, 70-64, at the 8:31 mark. It would then be GW's turn to make a run as they scored nine straight to build their advantage to three with 6:29 left on the clock. Richmond's final lead would be 78-77 at 4:38 as the shots wouldn't fall for the Spiders the rest of the way. In the final five minutes, Richmond got outscored 9-4 as the Spiders went 1-of-8 from the floor as they dropped another close game to the Colonials, 85-80.
Tanner would finish with game-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds as she led four Spiders in double figures. Senior point guard Michele Koclanes (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) had a game-high six assists to go along with 18 points. For the Colonials, who were minus two starters, sophomore center Ugo Oha had 18 points and nine rebounds. Richmond outrebounded its eighth opponent of the season, 41-36, but lost the turnover battle, 24-21, including 17 in the second half.
The loss drops Richmond to 11-14, 5-7 in the Atlantic 10 as it has alternated wins and losses for the past six games. GW remains unbeaten in the conference, improving to 17-6, 12-0. The Spiders return to action Thursday, February 14 as they travel to Duquesne to take on the Dukes at 7:00 p.m.
