University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
at Temple
Women's Basketball Plummets At No. 20 Temple, 65-46
02/03/2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2006
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The University of Richmond women's basketball team dropped a 65-46 decision to No. 20 Temple Friday night at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Araceli Gil paced the Spiders with 12 points, while Sarah Williams added 10 points. The Spiders dropped their third consecutive contest and fifth straight road game, falling to 8-14 overall and 3-7 in the Atlantic 10.
While Richmond committed turnovers on its first two possessions, the Owls were able to capitalize on theirs and immediately jumped to a 4-0 lead. Ania Grabias then got the Spiders moving with a three-pointer; however, despite the Spiders' attempts, they could only come within one point of the Owls on three different occasions. Gil, Alison Mitchell, and Williams all added points for the Spiders in the early minutes after driving through the Owls' defense to keep the game alive.
After bringing the game to 10-9, the Spiders hit a drought and the Owls went on a 7-2 run to take a 19-11 advantage at the 11:04 mark. Temple then moved on to take a 16-point lead before halftime after the Spiders remained scoreless in the last four minutes, ending the half with only 17 points on the scoreboard.
The Owls continued to outplay and outscore the Spiders in the second half as they went on a 17-7 run in the first seven minutes of play to take a 24-point advantage, the largest deficit the Spiders have experienced all season. Although Gil led the Spiders' second half efforts with eight points, Petillon followed with seven second half points, and Williams shot a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, the Spiders could not overcome the lead that the Owls had built.
While Gil led the Spiders and Williams notched her fourth double-digit performance in the last five games, Petillon and Grabias each added seven points, and Petillon grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
With Friday's victory, the Owls improve to 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference. Candice Dupree led all scorers with 16 points and Khadija Bowens added 15 points leading the Owls to their fifth straight victory over the Spiders.
The Spiders will now take a break from the road and host their first of three consecutive games starting with the Rhode Island Rams on Fri., Feb. 10 at the Robins Center.
