University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Wake Forest
Women's Basketball Tops Wake Forest, 67-55
12/30/2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Richmond women's basketball team jumped back on the winning track with a 67-55 win over the ACC's Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday afternoon at L. Joel Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., earning its second straight victory over the team in as many years. The Spiders used a first half surge in which they held the Demon Deacons to just 12 points, as well as a balanced attack with four different players in double-figures, to take the victory over the tallest team in college Division I women's basketball.
"It's a big win," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "More than anything, I think that with the experiences that we've been through, we benefited from them tonight. We played well against a good opponent because we've played good people. We handled adversity because we've experienced a great deal of it."
After opening the ballgame with a 10-2 run in the first five minutes using five different players to contribute points, the Demon Deacons finally connected on their second basket of the contest at the 14:19 mark, which would be the last Wake Forest score until over seven minutes later. Following Wake Forest's fifth point, the Spiders continued to surge, putting up five times the Demon Deacons points (25-5) at the 8:01 mark.
As Wake Forest slowly put three more points on the board, the Spiders hit a short three minute dry spell before a Sarah Williams' trey would spark them back into scoring action. Several baskets later and just under a minute before halftime, the Spiders were facing their largest lead of the game with a 25-point advantage (35-10) over the Demon Deacons.
Richmond closed the first half with a 23-point lead and a 28-20 advantage on the boards.
Wake Forest opened the second half with a 12-2 run, using five-straight points from Corinne Groves and seven consecutive points from Yolanda Lavender, to cut the Spiders' lead from 23 to just 13 in the first five minutes. With just 7:34 remaining in the game and after eight more points from Lavender, Wake Forest found themselves within a seven point reach of the Spiders.
As the clock wound down, the Spiders began to build up their lead again, but the Demon Deacons wouldn't let them stray more than 12-points away, and then with just 2:47 left, Wake Forest hit its second straight basket to bring the contest to a six-point game. From there, the Spiders scored 10 of the final 14 points of the contest, including six free throws from Kara Powell, who hit 8-8 from the line, in the final 1:19 to secure the 12-point victory and conclude the game with the largest scoring output (67) of the season.
Powell led the Spiders, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, all career highs for the freshman from Feeding Hill, Mass. Christina Campion followed with 11 points and seven boards, and DeUnna Hendrix and Johanna McKnight each chipped in 10 points, a season-high for Hendrix. Freshman Katie Holzer dominated the boards, pulling a career and team-high 10 boards.
Also contributing in the Spiders final contest of the year were Williams with eight points, Holzer with seven and Thomas with six.
Three Demon Deacons reached double-figures on Saturday, with Lavender leading the way. After a 0-10 effort in the first half, Lavender turned around putting in 16 points in Wake Forest's comeback efforts in the second half. Corinne Groves followed, just one rebound shy of a double-double, with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Mekia Valentine recorded a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 points.
With the loss, the Demon Deacons, who just saw their seven-game win streak snapped by a 10-point setback (57-47) to James Madison on Dec. 21, dropped their second-straight contest and dropped to 8-4 overall. The Spiders, on the other hand, knotted the all-time series, 4-4, with the win and snapped their two-game skid.
"I believe that our kids grew up a little tonight and learned some things about themselves," continued Shafer. "I'm very proud of them for coming on the road and beating an ACC team."
The Spiders (5-9) will now bring in the New Year and round out non-conference action with Virginia, hosting the Cavaliers on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Live coverage, including live stats, video streaming and an audio broadcast for Wednesday's game will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
