University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
0-3
William & Mary
1-1
Early Deficit Spoils Spiders Chances at William & Mary
11/19/2016 | Women's Basketball
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (0-3) struggled mightily at William & Mary (1-1) on Friday night after falling behind early and never fully recovering to take a 67-39 defeat at the hands of the Tribe.
The Spiders managed to put just one player in double-figures in Micaela Parson who salvaged 12 points on 3-7 shooting. She scored in double-digits for the 26th time in her career and 12th consecutive game. Eight other Spiders contributed to the scoring, including Daniella Hatcher who scored the first points of her career and Taisha Murphy who scored the first points of her season on a pair of triples in the third quarter.
The pace was frenetic in the early stages of the first quarter but the score did not indicate that as the Tribe carried just a 6-3 lead heading into the first media timeout. Kylie Murphree started the scoring for the Spiders on their first possession with her first triple of the season but Richmond was held without another field goal until the 9:12 mark of the second quarter. The defense had done its part and the Tribe was leading just 14-9 at the time.
Richmond continued to struggle shooting however while William & Mary remained hot. Most of the scoring for the blue side came from the free throw line, converting on nine of 12 tries in the first half. On the flip side, the Tribe shot 46.4 percent from the floor (13-28) against Richmond's 17.4 percent (4-23) to take a 37-18 lead into the locker rooms.
Parson managed five points over the first two quarters but three of those points came at the free throw line. Seven different Spiders contributed to their 18 first-half points all while William & Mary controlled the boards, 22-13, and had four players score at least six points.
The Spiders allowed a quick 4-0 Tribe run to start the third quarter forcing coach Shafer to call a timeout. Taisha Murphy and Dazia Hall checked in to make their season debuts at this point and made an immediate impact. Murphy came up with a steal and on the subsequent possession; Hall set a hard screen for Parson who buried a jumper.
The deficit grew as large as 25-points in the third quarter before Richmond began to chip away. Murphy knocked down her first pair triples of the season and Dee Hatcher scored in transition to pick up her first points as a Spider and suddenly the lead was down to 13 with 1:07 to play in the 3rd quarter. William & Mary answered with one bucket to take a 15-point advantage into the 4th.
Richmond's struggles from the floor continued into the final period, however. The Spider offense was unable to cut further into the deficit before ultimately going quietly into the Williamsburg night.
The season continues in the Robins Center on Sunday afternoon when the Spiders welcome Appalachian State for a 5 p.m. tip. It will be the final home game for Richmond until Dec. 10 opposite Penn. A pair of long road trips to Boca Raton, Fla. and Annapolis, Md. for tournaments will bridge the gap.
