University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
MARSHALL
Marshall Upends Women's Basketball, 67-66, With Last Second Shot In Overtime
12/28/2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Despite jumping to a five-point lead at the start of overtime, the Richmond women's basketball team was edged by Marshall University, 67-66, off a three-pointer at the overtime buzzer on Thursday night in the Robins Center in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Freshman Katie Holzer finished the overtime thriller with 14 points and seven rebounds, delivering her fifth double-digit performance of the season and tying her career-high as she hit 5-11 from the field and 4-5 from the line. Freshman Danielle Bell followed closely behind with a career-high 13 points and teammate Christina Campion rounded out the Spiders in double-figures as she chipped in 10 points for her eighth double-digit performance of the season and the 45th of her career.
Sophomore Sarah Williams also contributed nine points in the Spiders' efforts after hitting three treys, while freshman Kara Powell put in eight points and dished out a career-high five assists.
Four Marshall players reached double-digits to lift the Thundering Herd over the Spiders, including Chantelle Handy and her game-high 15 points and game-winning three pointer at the buzzer. Modupe Ishola followed with a double-double, recording 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while teammates Alyssa Hammond and Kendra King added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Marshall opened the game with a quick basket in the first two seconds; however, the Spiders bounced back and took their first lead of the game (5-4) off a three-pointer from Williams. Marshall then took their third lead of the game before an eight minute battle broke out, in which Richmond knotted the score three times before finally capturing its second lead of the game at 10:35.
From there, the Spiders maintained the lead for the next eight minutes, using a 10-4 run to take their largest lead of the half (seven points) with 7:10 remaining. The Spiders were unable to hold on, and Marshall stole the lead once again after putting in 10 straight points in the last 3:38 of the first half to move out to a 38-33 lead at halftime.
After letting the Thundering Herd pull away their largest lead of the game (nine points) at the opening of the second half, the Spiders pulled together a 7-0 run to close the gap to just two points. Over the next 5:14 of play, the teams went back-and-forth with Richmond holding Marshall to a five point game and coming within a one-point reach two different times.
Finally, at the three minute marker, Campion sunk a trey to knot the game at 54-54. Marshall's Ishola followed with a lay-up to take a two-point lead; however, Richmond's Bell gave herself a fast break to tie the game with 2:15 remaining. Just over 30 seconds later, she hit a free throw to put the Spiders up by one; however, Ishola was able to grind out another lay-up for the Thundering Herd to give them a one-point lead with 1:26 to go. Richmond's Powell sunk a trey to lift the Spiders to a two-point advantage but, despite Richmond's efforts to hang onto the lead, Marshall's Handy was able to sneak in a shot under the basket to tie the game in the final seven seconds of play to send the game into overtime.
The Spiders immediately jumped to a five-point lead in overtime; however; over the final 3:31 of play, the Thundering Herd closed that gap to just one with just 1:02 left to play. After Campion was sent to the foul line, where she put in a free throw to give the Spiders a two point lead with five seconds to go, Marshall rushed down the court and Handy was able to save the game again, this time sinking a three to win the game for the Thundering Herd.
"I felt like our team showed some resolve in our ability to fight back from a halftime deficit," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "We competed and had a chance to win the game. Obviously, free throws and rebounds were a huge difference. Yesterday in practice, we were 54 of 57 as a team from the free throw line. We need to carry that over to games and shoot with confidence."
Throughout the overtime thriller, the lead changed hands eight different times. Marshall held a 50-34 advantage on the boards; however, the Spiders forced Marshall into 20 turnovers while they made just 13.
"I feel for our kids and our coaches because they keep working hard for good things to happen," continued Shafer. "We will continue to work on getting better. I know it sounds repetitive, but as long as we keep improving and making steady progress, which I believe we are doing, then we will benefit from these experiences. At this point, there really is not very much that this team has left to experience other than conference play. We need to learn from this and put these experiences to good use."
The Spiders will now head down to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face ACC foe Wake Forest for a Saturday afternoon match-up. Tip-off with the Demon Deacons is set for 3:00 p.m.
