Parson Sisters, Hatcher Lead Spiders to Gritty Win at Columbia, 85-79

Sunday, November 12

New York, NY

2:00 PM

University of Richmond

2-0

Columbia

1-1

Richmond

Columbia

Parson Sisters, Hatcher Lead Spiders to Gritty Win at Columbia, 85-79

11/12/2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Matt Moretti III (@Moretts13)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (2-0) put its offense on full display on Sunday afternoon at Columbia (1-1) and picked up a gritty victory, 85-79, to complete a perfect road trip to begin the season.

The Spiders battled back-and-forth with Columbia throughout the contest. Nine Spiders found at least 10 minutes of action and Dee Hatcher had the breakout performance of her career, scoring a career-best 19 points on 5-6 shooting bolstered by a 9-9 effort at the free throw line. The Parson sisters showed out as well, with Micaela notching 23 points and eight rebounds while Alex, who stands at just 5'6" scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

As a team the Spiders outrebounded the taller Columbia, 48-39, 21 of which came on the offensive end. Amy Duggan continued to do her thing on the boards by setting a new career-high with 12, four on offense and eight on defense. She added five points, including the first triple of her season as well.

The pace was fast and furious in the early going on Sunday afternoon inside Levien Gymnasium. The Spiders struck first with a Micaela Parson jumper and they immediately applied a press that forced Columbia into some shaky turnovers. Richmond use that advantage to build an early 8-2 lead but the Lions responded with an 8-0 run to take a 10-8 lead into the first media timeout of the afternoon.

Coming out of the timeout, Alex Parson took over, scoring eight-straight points to tie the game at 16. She ended up with 10 points in the first quarter alone to lead all Spiders. The two sides traded baskets down the stretch in the first at a blistering pace with a Fee triple putting Richmond up by one late but a three-point play for Columbia made the score 25-23 in favor of the home side after one.

Amy Duggan corralled her own miss and knocked in a jumper to tie the score on the first possession of the second quarter and later added a three ball, her first of the season, to push the Spiders ahead by four with 6:50 to go in the half. With the Spiders still leading by four at the 5:37 mark, Columbia locked down and held them without a field goal over the next 5:32. Micaela's jumper with five seconds to go in the quarter made a one-point Columbia lead at halftime, 39-38.

Alex led all Spiders in the first half with 10 points as one of seven to score for the blue side. One of those seven was Autumn Truesdale who made her collegiate debut, saw three minutes of action in the first half and scored her first point with a free throw.

Neither side managed to score in the third quarter until the 7:35 mark when Micaela buried her first attempt of the half to briefly put the Spiders up by a pair. Basket trading ensued until the Spiders put the clamps down in the middle of the third and built a six-point advantage, 50-44, with 4:14 left. Columbia answered with a 9-0 run to take a 53-50 lead and held as much as a five-point advantage down the stretch in that quarter.

With 28 seconds left in the frame, Richmond turned on the jets. Micaela knocked in one of two free throws, Duggan corralled the second and fed Hatcher who drew another foul. She made both and the Spiders forced a turnover on the next Columbia possession to set up a final chance to tie it in the final seconds. Murphree held at the top of the lane and with the second winding down, drove the lane and went up-and-under with the left hand to tie the score at 60 as the buzzer rang out.

The Spiders built a seven-point advantage early in the fourth quarter and led 69-62 with 7:23 to go. Columbia chipped away over the night five and a half minutes and took the lead, 78-77 with 2:10 to go on a free throw. Micaela drove right down the floor finished a physical lay-in to reclaim the lead for Richmond and Coach Shafer took a quick timeout.

The Richmond defense came up with a stop and with 55 seconds left, Dee Hatcher spun in the lane and converted a tough shot to push the Spiders ahead by three, 81-78. The defense allowed just one point the rest of the way while the offense made its free throws down the stretch to close out the 85-79 victory.

The Spiders are now 2-0 for the first time since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, a team that began its year 5-0. The next tilt of the 2017-18 season will come at home opposite ACC foe Wake Forest on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.