University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
MASSACHUSETTS
Women's Basketball Defeats UMass, 46-40
01/12/2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Johanna McKnight scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Richmond to a 46-40 win over the Massachusetts Minutewomen in its A-10 home opener on Friday at the Robins Center.
With the support of over 450 area elementary school students, the Spiders (7-10, 1-1 in A-10) came back from an eight-point deficit to earn their first A-10 win and their third win in the last four games to remain undefeated (3-0) against the Minutewomen in the Robins Center. Richmond, avenging its loss to UMass last year in Amherst, handed the Minutewomen (10-7, 0-2 in A-10) their third-straight loss and second in the league.
"We have been scratching and clawing to stay in basketball games and today we made some plays that enabled us to win against a good UMass team," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "I felt like when we played Wake Forest and Virginia, our offense was coming along - executing well and shots were going in - and I think we've reverted back some but, all in all, we played a good basketball game and came up with a good win."
The Spiders opened the first 3:18 of play with an 8-2 run; however, they hit a drought that lasted over the next four minutes. Meanwhile, the Minutewomen sparked into action, using a 16-4 run to take an eight-point advantage over the Spiders with just over 7:30 remaining in the half. Four different Spiders put points on the board in a comeback run, knotting the game 20-20 with 51 seconds remaining; however, UMass' Alisha Tatham was able to lay-up one more basket before the halftime buzzer to take a two-point lead.
Although the Spiders claimed the first basket in the second half, they found themselves down by four in the sixth minute of play. Just five minutes later; however, Richmond was leading by eight points after McKnight led the Spiders on a 14-2 run, putting in 10 points herself.
The teams battled for the final nine minutes of play, and the Minutewomen were even able to close in on the Spiders, bringing it to a three-point game twice; however, six points from Richmond senior DeUnna Hendrix and three more from McKnight in the final seven minutes of play secured the Spiders' victory, moving them to 6-2 in the all-time series.
While putting in a game-high 17 points and delivering her fifth double-digit performance of the season, Richmond's McKnight also grabbed a game and career-high four steals. "Jo made some good steals and shots to give us some breathing room," continued Shafer. "We've been looking for Jo to do that all season and I guess right now was as good a time as any."
Richmond's Hendrix finished the game with six points, Sarah Williams chipped in five points, and freshman Katie Holzer put in four points and grabbed six boards and dished out a game-high four assists.
Tamara Tatham led the Minutewomen, just one board shy of a double-double, putting in 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Kate Mills followed with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Spiders will now head to Philadelphia, Pa. for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off with Saint Joseph's (8-7, 1-1 in A-10) on Sunday. Live coverage for Sunday's contests will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
