Spiders Drop OT Heartbreaker to UMass

Saturday, January 15

Richmond, Va.

4 p.m.

University of Richmond

11-6,2-2Atlantic 10

UMass

14-2,2-0Atlantic 10

OT 1

Massachusetts

Richmond

01/15/2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Press Conference

RICHMOND, Va. – It took extra time and came down to the final second of the game, but the Richmond Spiders fought the entire 45 minutes Saturday evening before dropping an overtime heartbreaker at the buzzer to the University of Massachusetts, 73-72.

Addie Budnik put the Spiders up by one point with a layup in the final four seconds of overtime, but UMass countered that with a layup with a half second left on the clock to secure the win. Budnik led all scorers in the game with 20 points as the Spiders dropped to 11-6 (2-2 A-10) this season while the Minutewomen improved to 14-2 (2-0 A-10).

"I thought this was a really good basketball game against a really good team, and I was really proud of the effort our kids put through today. There are always things in the box score you can be upset about, but I think our defense was really good against probably the best offense in our league, at least statistically right now. I thought we made them uncomfortable, and they missed some shots that they maybe otherwise would have made. So, you have to give our kids credit for that," said head coach Aaron Roussell. "I really love our team. I love the individuals on our team, and I love the way that we are building right now."

Richmond opened the game with back-to-back triples to take a quick 6-0 lead, and later posted seven straight points to push the lead to 15-7 with 1:14 to go in the first. Budnik drilled a pair of threes and had eight points in the first as the Spiders held the 15-11 advantage heading into the second.

The triples kept coming for Richmond as Siobhan Ryan drained her second one of the day eight seconds into the second quarter. UMass evened things up at 19-19 at 6:59, but Grace Townsend took advantage of her trip to the line just a few seconds later to give Richmond the lead back. A triple for Claire Holt followed by a pair of steals from Kate Klimkiewicz helped Richmond extend its lead to 32-24 with 1:06 remaining in the half, and the Minutewomen got a few points back in the final minute as the Spiders led 32-28 at halftime.

UMass came out with two straight buckets in the third to tie things back up at 32-32 before taking their first lead of the game off a free throw at 8:54. Cayla Williams drilled one from beyond the arc to take the lead back before the Minutewomen went up by five points off three straight buckets. After that, Budnik sank her third 3-pointer of the day to tie it up at 45-all before Kate Klimkiewicz gave Richmond a 48-45 lead with a triple at 1:43. The Spiders led by five points with 1:11 to go in the frame, but UMass hit three free throws and then a layup in the last second to send the game to the final frame all knotted up at 50-50.

The Spiders came out strong in the fourth with a huge block by Budnik where Townsend took the rebound all the way down for a layup, and three straight Richmond baskets forced a UMass timeout with Richmond ahead 56-50 at 8:34. Another 3-pointer from Ryan made it 59-54 with 6:17 to go, but UMass fought back to tie it up at 61-61 with a triple of their own. The two teams would exchange baskets for a 63-63 tie at the end of regulation.

The overtime period opened up in back-and-forth fashion starting with a Budnik layup half a minute in, and she would knock down another 3-pointer to put the Spiders up 70-69 with 1:05 remaining. With Richmond down by one point with four seconds left, Townsend found Budnik with a perfect feed for a layup to retake the lead and force a UMass timeout. Ber'nyah Mayo was able to drive in off the in-bounds for the game-winning, buzzer-beating layup.

Notables

The Spiders bounced back statistically Saturday evening with 20 assists on 24 buckets, led by Grace Townsend who dished out a game-high of seven. The Spiders attempted 32 3-pointers on the day, connecting on 10 of them.
Addie Budnik led all scorers in the game with her fourth 20-point effort of the season. She also posted four blocks, three assists, and pulled down five rebounds.
Siobhan Ryan dropped 14 points and was 3-of-8 beyond the arc.
Kate Klimkiewicz was one point shy of a double-double with a team-high 10 boards and nine points alongside four steals and five assists.

The Spiders are preparing for two straight road contests beginning with a trip to George Mason Wednesday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Fairfax.

-- UR --