Spiders Drop Season Opener at Duke Monday Morning

Monday, November 6

Durham, N.C.

11 a.m.

University of Richmond

0-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Duke

1-0,0-0ACC

Richmond

Duke

11/06/2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The University of Richmond Women's Basketball team opened its 2023-24 campaign with a tough 83-53 loss at Duke on Monday inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Richmond Starters
Budnik, Townsend, Hill, Doogan, Ryan

How it Happened
Katie Hill and Addie Budnik combined for three points to open the scoring for the Spiders before Duke went on a 6-0 run to build a 9-3 lead. Rachel Ullstrom ended the Blue Devil run from a trey to bring the score to 9-6 in favor of Duke with 4:39 left in the quarter. Two minutes later, Ullstrom put up another three-pointer as the Spiders ended the quarter down 18-9.

After Duke built a 26-11 lead, Grace Townsend made a layup to damper the scoring drought for the Spiders, but Duke would continue to put pressure on the Spider defense and ended the half with a 14-point lead, 39-25.

The Spiders came out of the locker room with back-to-back layups courtesy of Budnik, but an 8-0 run from the opposition would bring the score to 51-29 in favor of the Blue Devils. Duke would end the quarter with a 9-2 run as the Spiders went into the final quarter down 64-36.

The Spiders were able to chip away at the Blue Devil lead with efforts from Siobhan Ryan and Ullstrom, 67-43, with 6:28 left in the game, but Duke would rebuild its lead to 32 with a 6-0 run. Five points late in the quarter from Ryan would cut the Duke lead to 81-53, but the Blue Devils took the win, 83-53.

Inside the Box Score

Ally Sweeney, Melissa Mwanza and Courntey Swider recorded their collegiate debuts.
Addie Budnik paced the team with 17 points and six rebounds while Rachel Ullstrom recorded 11 points off the bench.
The Spiders were 21 of 60 (35%) from the field, 7 of 26 (26.9%) from deep and had 22 rebounds, nine offensive boards, three blocks and eight thefts.
Richmond recorded 10 points off 19 Duke Turnovers.
The all-time series record with Duke moved to 1-8.
Budnik recorded her 11^th straight game in double figures (from 2022-23) and 63^rd of her career.
Ullstrom recorded her 10^th career game in double figures.

From Head Coach Aaron Roussell
"Duke really bothered us today. We talked about being able to handle their pressure, and I think we handled their full court press well, it just took us out of our rhythm. They definitely jumped out early and put us on our heels, and they also didn't miss a ton of shots. I think the biggest thing that bothered us was the athleticism, on both ends of the court."

Up Next
The Spiders look to continue the young season and play host to Delaware State on Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. inside the Robins Center for the 2023-24 home opener.