University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Bucknell
Women's Basketball Concludes Tournament Action With A 58-40 Win Over Bucknell
11/25/2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2006
CANCUN, Mexico - The Richmond women's basketball team wrapped up tournament action at the Caribbean Classic and snapped its four-game losing streak with a 58-40 win over Bucknell (4-3) on Saturday afternoon at Moon Palace in Cancun, Mexico. Christina Campion led the Spiders' efforts with 13 points, while Nikita Thomas recorded her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 boards and teammate Sarah Williams added 10 points on the afternoon.
This was Campion's second consecutive game reaching double-figures and a career-best for Thomas. Also contributing to the Spiders' tournament victory were freshman Danielle Bell adding a career-high eight points and redshirt sophomore Johanna McKnight and freshman Erin Hawkins with eight points apiece.
Bucknell's Hope Foster paced her team with a 4-6 effort in the field and a 5-6 effort from the line. Jacquie Seawright rounded out the Bison in double-digits as she put in 10 points on the afternoon. Bucknell's 40 points in the contest was the lowest scoring output since Dec. 4, 2004.
"I thought our basketball team grew up down here this week," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "We competed against two NCAA-caliber teams. If you take the second half of the Drake game and this entire game, I learned that this team will compete and has a pride about them."
Richmond jumped to a 10-4 lead in the first 4:32 of play behind the efforts of Campion and Bell, and by the 13:42 mark, Richmond had doubled the Bison's score (12-6) as Hawkins drove for a basket. Bell followed as she drove for a basket to double Bucknell's score once again (14-7), this time at the 12:57 mark.
Richmond was then able to steal a 10-point lead (17-7) with 11:20 remaining in the half; however, Bucknell's Lauren Schober hit a three to jumpstart the Bison on an 8-0 run that would trim the Spiders' lead to just two (17-15) at 8:21. The Spiders took off again, and with just under four minutes remaining, Williams sunk a shot just in front of the arch to give the Spiders their second 10-point lead of the game and then, with just 1:34 left in the half, Bell hit a free throw to give Richmond its largest lead (15 points) of the half.
Campion paced all scorers in the first half, scoring 11 of her game total 13 points in the first half after shooting 5-7 from the field.
The Spiders continued to build their lead in the second half, claiming a 20-point (47-27) advantage, their largest lead of the season, with 12:35 remaining in the game following baskets by McKnight and Williams. The Spiders kept their momentum for the remainder of the game, never letting the Bison get closer than a 17-point distance of them and capturing a 20-point lead twice more before the final buzzer.
"Defensively, we had a great game," continued Shafer. "We rebounded well, we disrupted their offense and we forced them to take shots that they weren't comfortable taking."
The Spiders improve to 2-4 with the win and will now stop off in Richmond for a night before heading out again for their third-straight road game. Richmond will travel to Notre Dame, Indiana to face the Fighting Irish on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m.
