University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Massachusetts
Spiders Withstand UMass, 54-47; Face No. 1 Xavier in Quarterfinals Tomorrow
03/05/2010 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2010
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -
Richmond withstood a late UMass rally to hold on for a 54-47 victory Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Tournament at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. The Spiders face top-seed and fifth-ranked Xavier tomorrow at noon in the quarterfinal round.
Although trailing 24-23 at the break, the Spiders closed the first half on a 14-6 run and continued their hot streak to open the second frame to go up 29-24 after a Danielle Bell three-pointer.
After UMass cut the Spider lead to 37-36 at the 13:29 mark, Richmond broke the game open with a 10-0 run to push the advantage to the game's largest at 46-36 with 7:32 remaining.
The Minutewomen would counter with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 46-44 with just under five minutes to play.
Richmond then called timeout to try to shift the momentum, which proved to work as the Spiders scored five quick points to boost their lead back to 50-44 with 3:30 left.
The Spiders got pivotal offensive rebounds from Crystal Goring and Rachael Bilney that allowed Richmond to wind down time on the clock.
UMass stuck around after a three-pointer cut the lead to 50-47 with just under two minutes to play, but Bilney's weakside rebound off a Goring miss proved to be heroic as she iced the game with two free throws to give Richmond the 52-47 lead with 30 seconds left.
Richmond decimated UMass on the glass, 44-30. Brittani Shells led the pack with eight rebounds while Bilney contributed four offensive boards. The 44 rebounds recorded was the Spiders' highest since posting 57 on Radford Dec. 21st.
A-10 Sixth Player of the Year Abby Oliver scored a game-high 16 points, off 5-for-12 shooting. Oliver has now posted nine double-figure performances the past 10 games, and has led Spider scoring in five of the last eight games.
Bilney provided a clutch 10 points off the bench, while Shells and Bell each chipped in with nine points apiece.
