University of Richmond
Penn
Women's Basketball Battles At Penn But Falls In Final Second
01/15/2015 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Despite two Spiders in double figures, the Richmond women's basketball team fell to the University of Pennsylvania, 49-47, in non-conference action Wednesday night at the Palestra.
Up one with under a minute to play, Richmond (9-7) fell behind when the Quakers (8-5) launched a three with 26 seconds on the clock to take the two-point lead. After a Spider timeout, Richmond grabbed three offensive rebounds but could not get a shot to fall as the clock hit zero.
Sophomore Janelle Hubbard and redshirt-senior Genevieve Okoro both led Richmond with 12 points apiece, while Okoro notched her fourth double-double of the season by also leading the team with 11 rebounds.
Senior Liz Brown also recorded double figures as she followed Okoro with 10 rebounds. Sophomore Olivia Healy came off the bench and contributed eight points, six rebounds and four assists for the Spiders.
Richmond got off to a solid start in the first 20 minutes of play and led by as many as 11, which came with five minutes left in the first. The Spiders held the Quakers to just 23 percent shooting, while only two Quakers combined for Penn's 17 points. Sydney Stipanovich led the floor with nine points and Kathleen Roche tallied the final eight for Penn.
The Spiders shot 34 percent from the floor, but went into halftime shooting 60 percent from behind the arc as Hubbard hit two of the three treys for the Spiders. Richmond went into the break with the 25-17 lead.
The second half was back and forth and Richmond found itself down for the first time at the 13:40 mark as Penn took the 30-29 lead. Penn made it a four-point ball game at 5:59, but Richmond kept fighting and tied the score for the fifth time with thee minutes to play.
The Quakers trey with 26 second on the clock secured the game and picked up their first win over Richmond.
Overall, the Spiders shot 37 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc, but all three three-pointers came in the first 20 minutes. The Quakers were held to 33 percent from the floor and shot 73 percent from the free throw line.
The Spiders will return home to host George Mason Sunday, Jan. 18 for a 12 p.m. tip on ESPNU.
