University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Duquesne
Women's Basketball Overcomes Duquesne, 69-57
02/11/2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2007
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Richmond women's basketball team rallied back from a seven-point second-half deficit to overcome Duquesne, 69-57, on Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center, earning its eighth-straight win over the Dukes. Johanna McKnight led the Spiders with 15 points off 3-of-3 shooting from behind the arch, career-high shooting for the redshirt sophomore guard from Kenner, La.
Sophomore Sarah Williams also chipped in 11 points after a 4-5 effort from the field and knocking in three treys. Freshman Nikita Thomas followed, just one point shy of a double-double, with nine points and 10 rebounds, her sixth double-digit rebound performance of the season. Redshirt junior Christina Campion also chipped in eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists, while freshman Kara Powell finished with eight points and six assists.
Senior DeUnna Hendrix and freshman Danielle Bell also chipped in seven points in the Spiders' win.
"I thought our kids responded well in the second half after a lackadaisical first half," stated Richmond head coach Michael Shafer. "I thought our defensive effort on the perimeter, especially by Johanna and Danielle was good in the second half and Christina and Nikita cleaned up well on the boards in the second half.
The first three minutes bounced back-and-forth between the two teams, until the Spiders secured the lead at the 17:07 mark, holding strong until the 7:37 mark.
While Jade Singleton, who averages 4.5 ppg, put in 10 of the Dukes first 18 points, Richmond's McKnight and Hendrix combined to put up 13 of the Spiders first 15 points, sinking three treys between them. Before five minutes had passed, McKnight had eight points on the scoreboard.
After holding the lead for almost 10 minutes, Duquesne rallied back from a seven-point deficit to knot the game 24-24 at the 7:24 mark; however a Sarah William's 3-pointer lifted the Spiders, but only for a brief moment. Duquesne's Jocelyn Chandler then hit her seventh-straight point and Singleton hit her 12th point of the game to give the Dukes the lead for the first time since 17:19 was on the clock.
By halftime, the Dukes had built a five-point advantage behind the efforts of Chandler and Singleton, both of whom were in double digits going into the break. Chandler led with 13 first-half points and Singleton followed with 12 points.
The Dukes pushed ahead by seven in the second half before Spiders slowly crept back and knotted the game, first at the 13:08 mark after Williams hit her second-straight trey of the half and again just over 30 seconds later. Finally, the Spiders pulled together to take the lead, building an 11-point advantage with 5:49 to go. Powell contributed seven consecutive points in the Spiders run, her first points of the game scored in less than a two-minute span to help her team comeback.
Richmond was then able to hold on for the lead, keeping the Dukes within a five-point reach and then sinking six free throws in the final minute for the 12-point victory, handing Duquesne (7-16, 2-8 in A-10) its seventh-straight loss.
Richmond shot 50% from the field and finished with a 40-21 advantage on the boards as it regained a split mark in the conference.
Duquesne's Chandler and Singleton, who only knocked in two points in the second half, paced the Dukes with 15 points and 14 points, respectively, while Carmen Bruce rounded out the Dukes in double-figures with 12 points.
The Spiders (11-14, 5-5 in A-10) will return home to host the Xavier Musketeers on Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Robins Center. Live coverage, including live stats, audio broadcast and video streaming, will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
