University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Morgan State
Shells' Buzzer Beater Lifts Spiders Over Morgan State, 63-60
12/30/2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2009
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -
Junior Brittani Shells poured in a career-high 32 points, including the game-winning three with one second left, as Richmond (9-4) escaped Morgan State (3-8) 63-60 Wednesday night at Yanitelli Center. Shells was named to the St. Peter's Classic All Tournament team.
"This is one of those, "at the end of the year it doesn't matter the score, it is a win"," said head coach Michael Shafer. "We battled and struggled to take the lead on the last possession when Brittani hit a huge shot. We showed a lot of character and didn't give up when we easily could have. We were really struggling. Sometimes when you are in a rut, it is really tough to get out, even though you are trying your best. We didn't bounce back from the UTC game as well as we could have. I felt like we were still trying to figure ourselves out a little bit. This effort should give us some confidence that we can be good, but it will take consistent effort, doing the little things and the simple things all the time. We also need to go to work on rebounding in practice."
Shells took over every facet of the game for the Spiders, netting 10 of Richmond's 18 second-half field goals and grabbing six of Richmond's 13 steals. Shells scored four of the last five Spider field goals, including the game-winner. Shells ended her night a career-best 13-for-23 from the field, including 6-for-9 from long range.
"We didn't want to lose the game," said Shells. "We were fueled by last night's loss [to Chattanooga]. We wanted to go home with at least one win. Coach told us in the timeout we were going to win and that really gave us a boost of confidence. We started to pressure them and contest their shots."
Richmond was down by as many as 13 with 17 minutes remaining, but sprang to life behind the hot-shooting Shells. The Spiders clawed their way back with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 43-38 with 12:48 remaining.
Shells started the run with a three at the top of the key, followed by Powell and Oliver's ensuing long-range shots. Richmond kept the deficit at three points the last six minutes of the half, but turned the corner after a driving Shells jumper cut the lead to 58-57 with 1:39 remaining.
After two Morgan State free-throws pushed the score to 60-57, Shells continued her game-changing performance by nailing a three to give the game its first tie at 60-60 with 48 seconds remaining.
Morgan State missed a jumper and Richmond recovered the ball and called a timeout. There was little doubt as to who was going to take the last shot as the Spiders set-up the game-winner for Shells.
"Brit was absolutely phenomenal in the second half," said Shafer. "Her last shot was huge, but she made play after play for us coming down the stretch. At the same time, I am very proud of our team for making the stops we needed to give us opportunities to get back in the game on offense."
Richmond recorded a game-best 13 steals and made 10 three-pointers for the second game in a row.
The Spiders return to action Monday at Wake Forest. Tip is slated for 7:00 p.m.
