University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Overpowers Women's Basketball, 87-66
11/28/2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Despite just a three-point deficit at halftime, the Richmond women's basketball team was unable to overcome Notre Dame's (4-2) second half momentum, dropping 87-66 to the Fighting Irish in its third straight road game on Tuesday night at the Joyce Center in front of 5,629 fans in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Redshirt sophomore Johanna McKnight led the Spiders with a season-high 14 points after shooting 2-2 from behind the arch as she racked in her third double-digit performance of the season, while redshirt junior Christina Campion put in her third consecutive double-figure game with 13 points on the night after shooting 5-8 from the field and 2-4 from behind the arch.
Sophomore Sarah Williams rounded out the Spiders in double figures, putting in 10 points on the game after shooting 2-4 from behind the arch, and notching her second straight double-digit performance and third of the season.
Richmond's freshmen also contributed to the Spiders' efforts with Katie Holzer putting in nine points, Erin Hawkins with six points and four assists, Danielle Bell with five points and Kara Powell finishing with four points.
Five Fighting Irish finished the game in double-figures, led by Charel Allen with a game-high 22 points. Melissa D'Amico followed with 15 points, Ashley Barlow put in 11 points after shooting a perfect 6-6 from the line and Crystal Erwin and Melissa Lechlitner put in 10 points apiece.
Notre Dame's Tulyah Gaines jump started the Fighting Irish into scoring action with a basket in the first 30 seconds of play, and three different Spiders scored in the back-and-forth battle over the next three minutes. Richmond's Nikita Thomas broke the 6-6 stalemate at the 15:46 mark as she rebounded a teammates' missed shot and put the ball back up from under the basket to give the Spiders their only lead of the contest (8-6).
From there, the Fighting Irish came back and answered with a 12-2 run to take an eight-point advantage (18-10), including eight straight points by Allen, while the Spiders hit a dry spell, unable to put in a basket for over five minutes. Richmond's Campion kicked the Spiders back into action as she put in a bucket down low and then hit a free throw less than a minute later.
The Fighting Irish were able to take another eight-point lead with under eight minutes remaining; however, the Spiders answered with a 10-4 run to trim the gap to just two (25-23) with 4:27 left. The Irish, once again, were able to build their lead, this time up to six points, however, the Spiders fought back again, and with a fast break and treys from Williams and Campion, the Spiders went into halftime only trailing by three.
Notre Dame's Allen led all scorers in the beginning of the contest, finishing with 14 first half points after shooting 6-11 from the field, including a 2-3 effort from behind the arch.
Despite the Spiders efforts in the second half, the Fighting Irish's momentum seemed to be too much for Richmond. Notre Dame used the first three minutes of the second half to build an eight-point lead, but McKnight hit a trey to bring it to a three-point game. McKnight hit another three, but Notre Dame was able to continue building their lead, and by the 3:56 mark, the Fighting Irish were up 22 points on the Spiders.
Richmond then hit five-straight points within a 38-second span before Notre Dame took off on a final run to take their largest lead (23 points) with 44 seconds left on the clock, ending with a 21-point advantage over the Spiders.
The Spiders (2-5) will now stop off in Richmond for a night before heading right back on the road to New Orleans, La. for the UNO Lady Privateer Invitational for their fourth and fifth straight road games.
