University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Rhode Island
Women's Basketball Rallies For A 54-50 Win At Rhode Island
01/31/2015 | Women's Basketball
KINGSTON, R.I. – The Richmond women's basketball team held on for a 54-50 victory over the Rhode Island Rams Friday night at the Thomas M. Ryan Center. Redshirt-senior Genevieve Okoro led four Spiders in double figures with 15 points.
The win improved Richmond to 13-8 overall and 5-3 in the league, while Rhode Island fell to 12-8 on the season and 4-4 in the A-10.
With the two teams tied at 46 with five minutes to play, the Spiders outscored the Rams, 8-4, including 4-of-5 free throws to hold onto the victory.
Despite URI outshooting Richmond by four percent, the Spiders forced 15 Ram turnovers that turned into 23 points for Richmond. The Spiders also hit six three-pointers, compared to URI's lone trey.
In addition to Okoro, sophomore Janelle Hubbard and junior Lauren Tolson both tallied 13 points and four rebounds, while sophomore Olivia Healy added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Freshman Kylie Murphree led the team with a career-high five assists.
After scoring the first nine points heading into the first media, Richmond had control until the final eight minutes of the half. Leading 19-12 with 7:54 on the clock, the Rams used a 16-4 run to go into halftime with the 28-23 lead.
Richmond shot 33 percent from the floor, compared to URI's 41. The Rams committed five steals, while blocking six shots. Okoro led the Spiders with nine points as she played just eight minutes in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Spiders used three-straight three-pointers to take the 32-30 lead four minutes into the second half. After the Rams evened the score at 32, Richmond hit six straight points to grab momentum. URI evened the score twice but never could take the lead as Richmond held onto the 54-50 win.
Richmond shot 41 percent in the final 20 minutes, including 40 percent from behind the arc. Hubbard picked up 10 of her 13 points, while Healy grabbed seven of her eight rebounds in the second half.
Richmond will return home Wednesday, Feb. 4 to host city-rival VCU at the Robins Center at 7 p.m.
