University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Radford
Richmond Overpowers Radford For Fifth Straight Win
12/30/2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2010
RADFORD, Va. -
Richmond (9-4) went on a 17-0 run early in the first half and cruised from there to rout Radford, 73-50, Wednesday night at the Dedmon Center. Brittani Shells led Richmond with 22 points.
The five-game winning streak is the best stretch of games for the Spiders since Dec. 30, 2009-Jan. 19, 2010.
Richmond put the game out of reach early with its 17-0 scoring onslaught from the 15:56 mark to the 7:37 mark. Radford went 0-for-14 in this span.
By the time the Highlanders could connect on a field goal, the score was already a 25-8 Richmond advantage.
The Spiders got key plays from the bench in the first frame, with Ryann Dannelly and Becca Wann recording the most notable performances. Dannelly scored a career-best nine points, off 4-for-4 shooting from the field. Wann was everywhere, with four points and three dishes.
The nation's 12th leading scorer Shells put up her usual impressive performance, scoring 16 first half points, just four shy of Radford's first-frame total, and had three assists to go along with two steals. Shells finished with 22 tallies. It marked the 30th career 20-point game for Shells and was the 91st double figure game of her career, 11th of the season. Shells is only 29 points shy of moving into third place on Richmond's all-time scoring list.
Richmond finished with 15 assists and grabbed a season-best 20 steals, led by Genevieve Okoro's career-high five.
Roanoke native Abby Oliver was well-represented at the Dedmon Center and followed Shells with 14 points. Crystal Goring continued to dominate in the paint, pulling down a team-high 10 boards, to go along with seven points. Goring has recorded 10 team-high rebounding performances, with five of those being double-digit board games. Goring has pulled down double-digit rebounds in three of the last four contests.
The Spiders won their fourth consecutive over the Highlanders and evened the series at 8-8. Head coach Michael Shafer moved to 2-0 against Radford. Richmond improved to 5-1 in December games and was two points shy of a spotless mark. (The Spiders dropped a 65-64 decision to No. 12 Georgetown, Dec. 1).
The Spiders improved to 5-0 against Commonwealth foes (Hampton, VCU, ODU, William & Mary and Radford) and is averaging wins by more than 22.0 ppg.
Richmond concludes its non-conference slate with rival Virginia Monday at 7 p.m. in the John Paul Jones Arena.
