University of Richmond Athletics
Women's Basketball Faces VCU
12/03/2004 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2004
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team hopes to continue its undefeated start to the season on Sunday afternoon when it faces cross-town rival VCU at the ALLTEL Pavilion at the Siegel Center. The game, with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off, will be broadcast live on the internet at www.richmondspiders.com.
At 4-0, Richmond is off to its best start since the 1996-97 won its first four games before suffering the first loss. The Spiders defeated Georgetown University on Wednesday night behind double-doubles from senior Kate Flavin and junior Saona Chapman.
Flavin currently leads the Atlantic 10 in both scoring (19.0) and field goal percentage (.700) while Chapman ranks first in assists (6.3).
VCU (2-1) is coming off Tuesday night's 69-56 win over Radford. The Rams are led by senior Lauren Hogan, the only VCU player to be averaging double-figures in the scoring column.
GAME NOTES
THE MATCH-UP
Richmond faces Virginia Commonwealth this afternoon in the annual Women's Basketball City Challenge.
THE SERIES
The teams are meeting for the 81st time with the Spiders holding a 46-34 advantage. The series dates to 1940 when Richmond recorded a 29-9 win against Richmond Professional Institute, which became VCU in 1968. Richmond and VCU were both members of the CAA for six years and played one another 12 times during that span.
THE COACHES
Richmond head coach Joanne Boyle is in her third year with the Spiders and has posted a 48-21 mark during that time. Boyle is 2-0 against the Rams. Beth Cunningham is in her second year with the Rams and has compiled a 16-15 record in that time.
LAST TIME OUT
The Spiders stayed undefeated with a 62-50 win over Georgetown on Wednesday night in a double-header with the men's team. Senior Kate Flavin and junior Saona Chapman both recorded double-doubles as Flavin scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed ten rebounds and Chapman tallied 19 points and dished out 10 assists. This was the first time that two Spiders recorded double-doubles since Richmond's win over Liberty on December 14, 2003.
PERFECT RECORD
Richmond is currently the only Atlantic 10 conference school to still remain undefeated. The Spiders opened the season with a 4-0 mark for the first time since the 1996-97 team won four games before suffering their first loss of the season. In 1970-71, Richmond won 13 straight games and ended the season without a loss.
APPEARING IN THE POLLS
The Spiders are receiving votes in both national polls. Richmond received six votes in the latest Associated Press rankings (11/29) and 14 votes in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll (11/29). In the preseason rankings, the Spiders received three votes and five votes, respectively. CBSsportsline.com had the Spiders at #36 in its preseason rankings.
