University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Liberty
Women's Basketball Extinguishes Liberty Flames 65-45
11/24/2004 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2004
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Behind six three-point baskets from junior Saona Chapman (Voluntown, Conn.), the University of Richmond women's basketball team defeated Liberty University 65-45 tonight at the Vines Center. With their second straight win, the Spiders improve to 2-0 while Liberty falls to 1-1.
Chapman led all scorers with 24 points, including 17 in the second half, off a career-best six three-point baskets. Sophomore Christina Campion (Hamilton Square, N.J.) tallied nine points and seven other Richmond players scored in the win. The Spiders' four newcomers saw a combined 50 minutes of action on the court.
"We are working on finding a rotation with the young kids so it is important for them to get time on the floor," commented Richmond head coach Joanne Boyle.
The Flames, playing without two-time Big South Player of the Year, Katie Feenstra, had a balanced offensive attack with all ten players scoring against the Spiders.
The Spiders jumped to a 6-0 lead before Liberty put points on the scoreboard off a pair of free throws. At the 15:08 mark, Richmond held a 15-6 advantage after back-to-back midcourt steals and layups from junior Araceli Gil (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and senior Kate Flavin (Englewood, Colo.).
Richmond took its first 20 point lead with two minutes remaining in the half with a lay-up from freshman Mirna Mazic (Zagreb, Croatia) and took a 36-18 lead into the locker-room at the break.
Liberty responded in the opening minutes of the second half as a put-back by Kristal Tharp at the 16:17 mark trimmed the lead to 12 points but a 10-0 run capped off by a Tanja Miranovic (Subotica, Serbia) three-pointer with 13:57 left to play pushed the margin to 22 points.
The Flames would get no closer than 17 points during the remainder of the contest. Chapman scored 12 of Richmond's final 14 points as she connected on four consecutive three-point baskets. For the second straight game, the Spiders shot over 50% from the floor (.509).
The loss snapped the Lady Flames' 24-game home court winning streak.
The Spiders are back in action on Saturday, November 27 when they face Virginia at 7:00 p.m. in Charlottesville. The game will be broadcast live on WRNL 910.
