University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
0-2
Virginia
3-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 14 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 63 |
| Richmond | 9 | 11 | 21 | 15 | 56 |
Spiders Nearly Shock UVA with Incredible Second Half Effort
11/17/2016 | Women's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Despite a 15-point halftime deficit the University of Richmond women's basketball team (0-2) battled the Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) to the final buzzer, even tying the game late before ultimately dropping a 63-56 decision at the Robins Center.
Junior guard Micaela Parson set the tone early with a pair of triples and continued to lead the way for the Spiders on offense in the early going this season with 18 points, six assists and six rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Parson led the Spider offense that shot 36 percent from the floor and actually out-rebounded the much larger Cavaliers 38-32, including a 17-14 effort on the offensive end.
“There's an old saying in basketball that rebounding is about heart and effort,” head coach Michael Shafer said of his team's effort on Wednesday night. “We didn't do that on Sunday. We came in yesterday and we practiced rebounding. We went over the scouting report and we changed a few things about how we were going to rebound and I'm extremely pleased with our effort tonight.”
Janelle Hubbard and Lauren Tolson each scored 11 points to join Parson in double figures. Tolson did so coming off the bench for the first time since her sophomore season, hitting three triples and grabbing seven boards.
Alicia Hudalla made the first start of her career and scored six points to go with six rebounds. Tuuli Menna made her second-straight start and scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds with freshman Jaide Hinds-Clarke coming off the bench to score five points as well to go with four rebounds.
Parson put the Spiders ahead to get things started with a triple and gave the Spiders a 6-3 lead with her second moments later but UVA then progressed on the run that gave it a 35-20 lead at the halftime break.
Coach Shafer's halftime message must have gotten through because the Spiders came out firing out the locker room. Hudalla got the scoring started and Richmond slowly chipped away, trailing by nine with one quarter left to play.
Menna canned a jumper to start the fourth and Tolson followed with a three ball from the corner to cut the Virginia lead to just four with 8:52 to play. With 4:16 left, Tolson hit her second triple of the quarter to make it a three-point game and Hubbard made a free throw with 3:07 left to make it just a 54-52 UVA lead.
On the very next Richmond possession Parson drove the lane and dished around a defender to a wide open Hudalla to settled and drilled a 15-footer to tie the game, sending the Robins Center crowd into a frenzy. UVA, however, would not miss a shot the rest of the game, pulling away in the end for a 63-56 victory.
The Spiders will face their first road test on Friday when they visit William & Mary for the 113th meeting in the rivalry's history. The next game in the Robins Center will be Sunday, Nov. 20 opposite Appalachian State at 5 p.m.
