University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
SAINT JOSEPH'S
Hawks' Last-Second Stunner Nips Richmond, 67-66 On Senior Day
02/21/2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2010
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -
Saint Joseph's Brittani Ford sunk a jumper with three seconds left to lift the Hawks over Richmond, 67-66 Sunday afternoon at the Robins Center.
A Kara Powell lay-up with 1:42 left gave Richmond a 66-63 lead, but the Hawks responded the ensuing possession with a jumper of their own to cut the lead to 66-65 with 1:12 remaining.
After a missed Hawk jumper, Richmond's Danielle Bell was there to pull down the rebound and immediately got fouled by Saint Joseph's Ashley Louge. Bell was unable to hit either free-throw, setting up the game-winner for the Hawks.
"Not often do you walk away after a loss being incredibly proud of the way your ladies competed," said head coach Michael Shafer. "That was the case today. If we competed the way we did today all the time, we can be as successful as we want to be. I thought we showed poise, competed, hustled and played together against a very good Saint Joe's team."
After going into the break trailing 33-31, the Spiders went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to take a 45-38 lead at the 14:08 mark after a lay-up from Nikita Thomas.
Richmond took its largest lead of the game three minutes later at 51-43 after a jumper by Brittani Shells. The Hawks responded with two quick baskets to get within 51-48 at the 8:52 mark.
After the Spiders again broke open the lead at 58-50, Saint Joseph's scored seven unanswered to cut the Richmond lead to 58-57 with 5:30 left.
From there, Richmond did not lead by more than three points. The physically taxing game saw 40 fouls, seven lead changes and six ties.
Abby Oliver posted her sixth consecutive double-figure performance and poured in a career-high 21 points. Oliver is averaging 17.0 ppg the past five games.
Brittani Shells followed with 19 points and Kara Powell chipped in with 10 points. Richmond recorded 32 points off turnovers.
The Spiders host Temple Wednesday in their regular-season finale. Tip is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Robins Center.
