University of Richmond Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts No. 19 Temple On Sunday
02/11/2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team will host No. 19 Temple in its second meeting of the season on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2:00 p.m. at the Robins Center. In the midst of a three-game run in the Robins Center, the Spiders will look to grab their second win of the weekend and shut down the Owls' four-game winning streak.
The Spiders, now 9-14 overall and 4-7 in the A-10, are fresh off a 77-54 victory over the Rhode Island Rams on Friday night at the Robins Center, where four Spiders reached double figures with freshman guard Sarah Williams and senior guard Araceli Gil leading the way with 15 points each. Williams recorded her fifth double-figure performance in the last six contests after hitting a career-high four three pointers (for a career-high 15 points) and Gil notched her 10th double-digit performance this season after hitting 3-4 from the three-point line. Also in double figures for the Spiders was Alison Mitchell, who added 13 points after hitting 5-6 from the foul line and 4-6 from the field, as well as Petillon, who notched 11 points after shooting 5-6 from the free-throw line. Petillon and Mitchell each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Saona Chapman dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Led by sophomore sensation Mirna Mazic (10.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg), who recorded four double-doubles and one 30-point game this season, Gil (9.3 ppg), who has earned 10 double-figure performances this season, and Chapman (9.2 ppg), who has also reached double figures in ten games this season, the Spiders are coming off their third-straight 20-plus winning season (23-7) in which they advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls are now 18-5 overall and 9-2 in the conference after wins over Michigan, Oregon, Drexel, Penn, Hampton, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Georgia, VU, Rutgers, and A-10 opponents Charlotte, La Salle, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, Xavier, UMass, Richmond, Duquesne, and Saint Louis, as well as losses to Florida, Stony Brook, Tennessee, and A-10 opponents GW and Saint Joseph's. Led by Candice Dupree (16.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg), the 2004-05 A-10 and Big Five Player of the Year, and Kamesha Hairston (12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Temple is returning three starters from last year's squad that went 28-4 overall, finishing first in the A-10 with a perfect 16-0 league mark, experienced a 25-game winning streak (the longest of any men's or women's team in the nation), earned a No. 15 national ranking, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This is the ninth meeting between the Spiders and the Owls with the Owls leading the all-time series 6-2. Temple has won the last five contests between the two teams; however, they only edged the Spiders by two points in four of those meetings. This is the second meeting between the two teams this season with the No. 20 Owls topping the Spiders 65-46 last Friday (2/3) in Philadelphia, Pa. where Gil paced the Spiders with 12 points, Williams added 10 points, Petillon and Ania Grabias each added seven points, and Petillon grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Temple's Candice Dupree led all scorers with 16 points and Khadija Bowens added 15 points to the Owls' victory.
Following Sunday's contest, the Spiders will host the Charlotte 49ers in their second battle of the season on Friday, Feb. 17 at the Robins Center
