University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Dayton
Late Charge Not Enough For Spiders In Loss To Dayton
01/07/2016 | Women's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (8-7, 1-1 A-10) dropped its first Atlantic 10 game of the season with a 60-48 loss to Dayton (8-5, 1-1 A-10) at the Robins Center on Wednesday night. Micaela Parson and Janelle Hubbard paced the Spiders with 17 points each.
An early second half run that cut the Dayton lead to three was not enough as the Flyers were able to gather themselves and close the third quarter on a 22-5 run to seemingly seal this one at the time. Parson took control of the game in the fourth and combined with aggressiveness from Kylie Murphree, was able to cut the lead back to eight before Dayton pulled away to close it out.
Richmond closed the gap twice despite shooting just 28 percent for the game. The defense was as good as it has been all season long, holding Dayton to 35 percent from the floor and forcing 15 turnovers in the game. The Flyers made up the difference by collecting 17-second chance points and by grabbing 54 rebounds against UR's 32.
Murphree pitched in a season best and career-high eight points on 3-9 shooting and 2-6 from deep while grabbing a pair of rebounds and handing out five assists. Karleigh Wike grabbed seven rebounds and Parson added six boards to her 17 points.
Dayton was hot from the floor to start this one. The Flyers kicked off the scoring with a pair of triples and capped off an 8-0 start to the game with a transition layup that forced Coach Shafer to take an early timeout.
Janelle Hubbard came out of the timeout and went on a personal 4-0 run before Dayton found the bucket again. Salita Greene hit a rhythm jumper from the elbow to make it 10-6 but Dayton closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 16-8 lead into the quarter break.
Neither team managed to find the bottom of the basket over the first two minutes of the second quarter. It was Hubbard breaking the silence with 8:02 to play with another jumper from 15 feet but Dayton answered by using its size advantage on the post and converted a short jumper.
Dayton moved ahead by 10 with a jumper at the 6:23 mark but this time it was Micaela Parson taking control of the game for the Spiders. The sophomore guard drove the lane, absorbed some contact and finished inside. On the very next Richmond possession Parson dribbled to her left, stopped and popped a 16-footer that fell to make it 20-14.
The Flyers knocked in a triple to move ahead by nine but Hubbard rattled in a three ball of her own to bring it back to a six-point deficit. Dayton continued to answer everything the Spiders had to offer down the stretch however to head to the locker room with a 28-19 lead.
Hubbard managed to can 11 points on 5-11 shooting in the first half but the Spiders shot just 29 percent from the floor despite holding Dayton to 32 percent. The Flyers made up the difference on the scoreboard by besting the Spiders 27-15 on the boards and 10-0 in second chance points. Six different players from Dayton scored in the first half with just three from Richmond contributing points.
The Spiders came out of the locker room fired up and focused. On the first possession of the half Parson executed a step-back jumper to make it a seven-point game but Dayton answered with a three as the shot clock expired. Kyle Murphree came back and stuck a three of her own then got out in transition and finished a lay-in to make it a five-point game.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes until Parson fought her way to the free throw line and converted a pair to shorten the Dayton lead to just 31-28. Dayton used a 5-0 run before the media timeout to bring its lead back to eight and built it back to 11 before Richmond scored again. Hubbard ran out on a break with Murphree and took a dish in the lane and finished to give her 13 points in this one.
Dayton built its largest lead of the game, 45-31, with a three out of a Richmond timeout and a layup in transition. The Flyers closed the third quarter on an extended 22-5 run to build a 50-33 lead with one quarter to play at the Robins Center.
Richmond trailed by as many as 19 early in the fourth quarter but then it began to chip away at the large lead. The Spiders used an 8-0 run, energized by Parson, over a 2:32 span to cut the lead down to 11, forcing Dayton to take a timeout with 6:13 to play.
The two squads traded buckets out of the timeout but a Murphree three ball with 3:57 left cut the Dayton lead to just eight. Dayton went back to its size advantage and picked up back-to-back buckets inside to push its lead back to 12 before a foul allowed free throws that made it 60-46 with just over two minutes left.
The Spiders managed just two points the rest of the way and went down to the Flyers 60-48 in a hard-fought battle.
The Spiders will remain home and welcome Rhode Island to the Robins Center on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tip off. It will be the last Richmond home game until Jan. 24 when VCU crosses town for the first of two matchups between rivals. Following the Rhode Island game Richmond will travel to Saint Joseph's (Jan. 13) and Massachusetts (Jan. 16).
