University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
VIRGINIA
Women's Basketball Surpasses ACC's Virginia, 73-70
01/03/2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Earning its second-straight victory over an ACC opponent, the Richmond women's basketball team had four Spiders reach double-figures to help it to a thrilling 73-70 victory over the University of Virginia on Wed. night in the Robins Center, rounding out its non-conference schedule. Freshmen Nikita Thomas led the way with 14 points apiece, while junior Christina Campion and freshman Danielle Bell followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively, to help the Spiders to their second-straight victory and third win in the last five contests.
"We've lost a couple of games in the closing minutes and three on last second shots," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "You saw us get flustered at the end, but we were able to fight through it this time. It means we're getting better."
Campion canned seven straight points to start off the contest as the lead changed four times before the Spiders would grasp the lead at 15:52 after hitting their third consecutive trey. From there, Richmond was able to hold onto the lead for the next 14 minutes, even through a six-minute drought, when the Spiders missed 14-straight shots. Despite climbing to a five-point lead twice throughout the first half, the Cavaliers snuck back into scoring action and stole the lead with just over a minute remaining and entered halftime with a three-point lead.
After Virginia put in a basket in the first nine seconds of second half action, the Spiders went on a 9-0 run to come back from a five-point deficit and take a four-point lead. The ballgame dropped to a tie twice over the next two minutes; however, Richmond's Powell sunk two-straight 3-pointers to launch the Spiders to a seven-point advantage at the 12:30 mark. Virginia responded with an 8-2 run to close the gap to just one-point at 9:54, but over the next six minutes, the Spiders slowly built their largest lead of the game (nine-points).
The Cavaliers, not yet ready to surrender the game, put up nine-straight points to bring the game to a tie with just over two minutes remaining. Sarah Williams hit a 3-pointer to lift Richmond to a 3-point lead before the Cavaliers would put in a lay-up with 1:30 left in the contest. Unable to convert on their final possession, the Cavaliers sent Bell to the foul line with less than one second remaining, and Bell secured a three-point victory for the Spiders as she sunk both free throws.
Richmond finished the game with a 10-19 effort from the 3-point line, their largest output and best shooting percentage from behind the arch this season. "We did a really good job of reading screens and shooting rhythm shots instead of forcing them," continued Shafer. "We were able to free ourselves up and knock down some threes tonight."
Powell, who delivered her fifth double-digit performance of the season, recorded four of those 10 treys as she hit 4-6 from the 3-point line, a career-high for the freshman, in addition to dishing out a team-high five assists. Thomas, whose 14 points was a career-high, and Bell each recorded their third double-figure games of the season, while Campion put in her fourth consecutive double-digit performance and 10th of the season after a 6-12 effort from the field. Williams dominated the boards for the Spiders, pulling eight rebounds and grabbing four steals.
Monica Wright led the Cavaliers (10-4) with a double-double, recording a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Lyndra Littles followed with a double-double, putting in 17 points and 11 boards. Rounding out the Cavaliers in double-figures were Paulisha Kellum with 13 points and Sharnee Zoll with 11 points.
The Spiders (6-9) will launch into Atlantic 10 action with arch-rival No. 16 George Washington on Tuesday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. Live coverage for Tuesday's will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
