University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
S.E. Louisiana
Women's Basketball Finishes Second At UNO Lady Privateer Invitational
12/02/2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2006
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Richmond women's basketball team finished second at the Four Points By Sheraton UNO Lady Privateer Invitational as it dropped a 71-59 decision to Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday afternoon at the Human Performance Center in New Orleans, La. Christina Campion, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the Spiders' efforts with a game-high 18 points as Richmond concluded its five-game road stand and its second tournament with a split 1-1 mark.
While Campion was the only Spider to reach double figures after an 8-12 effort in the field and a perfect 2-2 effort from behind the line, teammate Sarah Williams joined her on the All-Tournament Team for her 14-point performance against Appalachian State the previous night. Also contributing in the Spiders' efforts were Johanna McKnight with nine points on the afternoon, DeUnna Hendrix adding eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, and Erin Hawkins with seven and six points, respectively.
Three Lady Lions reached double figures as they claimed the tournament title, led by Brooke Necaise and Brenita Williams with 17 points apiece and Tina Wilson following with 12 points. Necaise finished the night with a 5-7 effort from the field, including shooting 4-5 from the 3-point line and a perfect 3-3 from behind the line. Wilson also shot perfect from the free throw line, hitting all four of her free throw attempts.
The Lady Lions jumped to a 3-0 lead with a trey by Necaise and Southeastern Louisiana was able to hang on to the lead until the 16:51 mark, when the Spiders' third basket of the game put them ahead of the Lions (6-5). Necaise sunk another 3-pointer to tie the game just over a minute later; however the Spiders regained the lead shortly after and held on for the remainder of the half.
Southeastern Louisiana was able to trim the Spiders' lead to five with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half; however, a three-point play by Hawkins put the Spiders up by eight and the teams then continued to battle back and forth for the remainder of the half, with the Lady Lions coming within a four-point reach at the 4:17 mark.
Richmond rebuilt a nine-point lead behind six-straight points from Campion and a trey from McKnight in the final 6:15 of play and, after one final drive from Danielle Bell, the Spiders concluded the first half with an eight-point advantage.
Richmond finished the first half with a perfect 7-7 effort from behind the free throw line and with one Spider, Campion, in double-digits with 10 points after a 4-5 effort from the field and 2-2 from behind the line.
The Lady Lions poured on the momentum in the second half, opening with an 18-0 run, not allowing the Spiders to score until the 16:37 mark, when Campion broke Richmond's drought. By then; however; the Lady Lions put in another basket and the Spiders were facing a 10-point deficit.
Over the next five minutes, the Spiders crept along, sinking free throws to cut the Lions' lead to five and finally, at the 10:15 mark, Nikita Thomas drove to cut it to a three-point game. From there, Southeastern Louisiana was able to rebuild a seven-point lead several times before Richmond's Campion drove to cut it to a three-point game once more with 6:41 remaining.
The Lady Lions build up an eight point lead once more by sinking free throws and the Spiders were only able to get within a six-point reach the rest of the way. Following missed lay-ups and free throws by the Spiders in their comeback attempt and five-straight free throws sunk by the Lions in the final 1:33 of the contest, the Lady Lions secured a 12-point victory in the Championship contest.
Despite the loss, the Spiders out-rebounded the Lady Lions 38-31 and shot over 70% from the line (.714) for the second-straight game this season.
The Spiders (3-6) will now return home to Richmond for their first of four-straight home games as they host UC-Santa Barbara on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the Robins Center. Live coverage of Monday's game with the Gauchos will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
