University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
2-3
Florida A&M
0-4
Hubbard, Wike Pace a Breakout Effort for Richmond in Boca
11/25/2016 | Women's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (2-3) shook off some early shooting woes and put forth and impressive second half effort to dispatch Florida A&M (0-4), 64-51, in the first round of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday afternoon.
Janelle Hubbard scored 18 points to pace the effort while Karleigh Wike surprised everyone with a career-best 15 points on 6-7 shooting in just 17 minutes of action. Lauren Tolson found her stroke late and tossed in 10 points while Micaela Parson slowed her scoring but picked up the rebounding and assist effort, collecting 12 and 5, respectively. Those 12 rebounds match a career-high for Parson.
As a team Richmond shot a season-high 43 percent from the floor on 24-56 shooting despite going 4-20 from long range. The Spiders took 22 more trips to the free throw line and outrebounded Florida A&M 48-38.
The Spiders started slow much like they have all season but a Ragan Wiseman three ball got the scoring started after Florida A&M had spotted a 5-0 lead. Richmond continued to struggle shooting the ball however, going 1-11 to start the game. Lauren Tolson buried a triple late in the first quarter and Parson found a wide-open Wike under the basket for an easy lay-in before the buzzer to cut the deficit to just three after one quarter.
Wike's layup to end the first were the first of seven-straight points for the junior forward. She finished the first half with a team-leading nine points in a season-high 10 minutes of action. A Wike free throw at the end of her run tied the score and a Hubbard free throw on the next Spider possession gave Richmond its first lead of the game, 15-14, with 6:53 to play in the quarter.
The two sides traded buckets for the remained of the quarter but Richmond was the side that took a one-point lead into the break. Parson failed to score in the first half but grabbed nine rebounds and handed out three assists, both exceeding her season averages. As a team the Spiders shot just 31 percent in the first half but held Florida A&M to 24 percent from the floor.
Hubbard opened up the scoring in the third quarter but Florida A&M managed to cut the Spider lead down to just one on three occasions. The last of which came with 4:14 to play in the quarter. Wike buried a jumper with 2:35 left to push the Spiders ahead by three and they never looked back from that point forward. A pair of Parson free throws at the end of the third gave Richmond its largest lead to that point, 40-31, with just 10 minutes left to play.
The Spider offense found its rhythm in the fourth quarter. Tuuli Menna collected her lone field goal of the game to push her team ahead by 11 and from there it became the Tolson and Hubbard show as the pair combined for 21 points in the second half to break this one wide open. Richmond collected one breakaway layup after another, eventually building a 22-point advantage by the 3:46 mark.
The bench took care of the rest and the Spiders came away with the victory, their second of the season and advanced to play host school Florida Atlantic University in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.
