University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
William & Mary
Richmond Cool In The Clutch, Defeats William & Mary 56-50
11/21/2015 | Women's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (3-0) outlasted the William & Mary Tribe (2-1), 56-50, on Friday night in the Robins Center to open up rivalry weekend.
The Spiders were led by senior guard Lauren Tolson who continued her hot start with a game-high 16 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and four triples. Janelle Hubbard joined Tolson in double-figures for the third-consecutive game with 14 while Micaela Parson continued to fill up the stat sheet despite fouling out late. She posted nine points, five rebounds and three assists with a steal. Freshman Tuuli Menna continued to shine in the starting lineup, collecting seven points and grabbing six rebounds while fellow rookie Salita Greene added a team-high seven boards.
The Spiders jumped ahead right away with a deep three ball from Tolson. She would hit her first three tries from long distance to lead all Richmond players with nine points by halftime. William & Mary took a pair of three-point leads in the first quarter but with 1:11 to play in the opening frame, Hubbard exploded for seven-straight points, her only points of the first have to close the quarter on a 7-0 run and with a 16-14 lead.
Neither team scored in the second quarter until the 7:31 mark when Tolson buried her third triple of the afternoon to give the Spiders a five-point advantage. Bria Powell hit a jumper from the top of the lane at the 6:16 mark to give the Spiders their largest lead, 21-14 but that would be the end of the scoring for UR in the first half. William & Mary closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 24-21 lead to the locker room. The Spiders shot just 26.9 percent in the first half opposite the Tribe's 34.8 percent mark.
Behind Parson, Richmond quickly cut into the lead and tied the score with just over a minute gone in the third. Parson stuck a jumper and hit a pair of free throws to knot the tally at 25 apiece. The Spiders built a four-point lead before the media timeout but a short Tribe run cut it down to one until Kylie Murphree stepped up and hit her first triple of the season to push the lead back to three with 2:53 left in the third.
William & Mary managed to get the lead back down to one but a jumper by Rennie Harrison and a running lay-in by Tolson in transition after a steal on the other end with 23 seconds left put Richmond in front 38-33 at the quarter break.
Hubbard found the bottom of the basket for the first time since late in the first quarter when she drove the lane and floated a jumper over the zone for two to make it 43-40. Moments later, however, Hubbard picked up her fourth foul and went to the bench with 6:02 to play.
Free throws from Tolson and Parson kept the Tribe at bay and the Richmond lead at five. A free throw from Parson made it a six-point Richmond advantage with 4:34 to play but William and Mary wasn't done. The Tribe put together a quick 4-0 run that forced head coach Michael Shafer to take a timeout to settle things down.
On the first play out of the timeout, Tolson stepped back and buried her fourth triple of the game. The bucket gave Richmond a 51-46 lead and ultimately would serve as the game-winner in this one. The Spiders would make free throws down the stretch to seal the 56-50 victory and a second-straight 3-0 start to the season. The win is also Richmond's 90th over William & Mary in 112 meetings.
The Spiders have a short break this weekend and will return to the Robins Center on Monday to complete their four-game stretch at home to begin the 2015-16 season opposite UNC-Wilmington. Richmond will then head south and spend Thanksgiving in Miami at the FIU Turkey Slam tournament where it will square off first with Wichita State on Friday and take on the winner of the FIU/Marquette matchup on Sunday. Tip off from the Robins Center on Monday is scheduled for 5 p.m.
