University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
11-13 (5-6)
Rhode Island
4-19 (0-11)
Richmond Runs Away from Rhode Island, 67-51
02/05/2017 | Women's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, VA. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team (11-13, 5-6 A-10) had one of its best shooting days of the season on Sunday afternoon, resulting in a runaway victory over Rhode Island (4-19, 0-11 A-10), completing the season sweep of the Rams, 67-51.
Janelle Hubbard from feeling good from the start and ended up dropping in a game-high 25 points on 9-15 shooting which included dropping in five long ball, a season-high. She was the lone Spider to reach double-figures but Micaela Parson, Taisha Murphy and Jaide Hinds-Clarke each tossed in eight points. Parson also contributed seven points and three assists.
Ragan Wiseman quietly added in six points and seven rebounds. Over the last five games, since taking over as the tallest player in the starting lineup for the Spiders, the freshman is averaging 5.8 rebounds, which ranks second on the team behind Parson's 8.2 clip in that same stretch.
Hubbard continues to climb the ladder of the all-time scoring list. After Sunday's output the senior guard is just 13 points shy of taking a position in the top five in program history. She is averaging 19.2 points per game over the last five since re-entering the starting lineup.
It was a prototypical slow start to this one inside the Robins Center on Super Sunday. The Spiders were first one the board with a free throw but failed to convert a field goal until the 4:28 mark when Hubbard canned a triple to tie the score at six. Each of the first four total field goals in the game came from beyond the arc, giving Rhody a 9-6 lead by the first media timeout.
Hinds-Clarke converted the first two-point shot at the 2:56 mark and Parson converted a lay-in on the next Spider possession to give Richmond its first lead since 1-0. Duggan drove the lane and scored with 52 seconds left in the first and the two sides traded baskets in the final two possessions to give Richmond a 14-11 advantage after the first.
Hubbard kicked off the scoring in the second with a pull-up jumper in the lane. After some trading, Wiseman took control on the offensive end, collecting an offensive rebound off her own shot and finishing through contact to score and draw the foul. She made the free throw to give the Spiders their largest lead at the time, 21-16, at the 6:01 mark in the second.
Rhode Island answered as they did most of the first half with a long ball but another Wiseman jumper after a pair of Parson free throws made it a six-point game. The two sides traded baskets down the stretch until Kylie Murphree found Hubbard in the closing seconds for a wide-open corner triple that pushed Richmond ahead, 30-24 at the half.
Rhode Island hit another triple to begin the third quarter, cutting the Spider lead to just three at the 9:12 mark but that was as close as the Rams came the rest of the way. Beginning with a Hudalla free throw with 8:16 to play in the quarter, the Spiders embarked on a 12-0 run to build a 15-point lead by the 4:13 mark. A pair of Hubbard free throws in the closing moments of the quarter left the Spiders with a 14-point advantage entering the fourth.
The Spiders shot 54.5 percent in that game breaking third quarter and went on to shoot 57.1 percent in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 23 points en route to putting the car in cruise control down the stretch to run away with the victory. The Spider defense held Rhody to just nine made field goals in the second half, five in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on this one.
Coming up for Richmond is a long road trip; first to Dayton on Wednesday (Feb. 8) then on to George Mason next Sunday (Feb. 12) for a rematch with the Patriots. Mason took the first meeting with the Spiders on Jan. 22. The next home contest will be Feb. 15 opposite UMass at 7 p.m. That will serve as the annual “Pink Game.”
