Spiders Collect Redemption Win at VCU

Wednesday, February 22

Richmond, VA

6 PM

University of Richmond

17-9,7-6Atlantic 10

VCU

7-20,4-11Atlantic 10

Richmond

VCU

02/22/2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – Behind a team-high 15 points from junior Grace Townsend, the University of Richmond Women's Basketball team picked up a 53-37 win at VCU Wednesday evening and avenged a 54-51 loss to the Rams on Jan. 11 inside the Robins Center.

With the win, the Spiders bounced back from a loss at Duquesne and improved to 17-9 overall and 7-6 in the Atlantic 10 while the Rams fell to 7-20 on the year and 4-11 in the A-10.

"I was really impressed with our defense today," said Head Coach Aaron Roussell. "We were able to disrupt their offense in both halves even though offensively it was slow for us. We had to work to find some avenues, but we played really well defensively."

The Spiders shot 22 of 53 (41.5%) from the field, 8 of 23 (34.8%) from deep and a perfect 1 of 1 from the line courtesy of Townsend. In addition, the team recorded 37 rebounds, 11 assists, seven blocks, six steals and 12 points off 15 Ram turnovers.

Individually, freshman Maggie Doogan was just shy of a double-double with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds while junior Addie Budnik recorded 10 points, putting her career total to 982.

The Rams held the Spiders to only six points in the first quarter, as the team was 2 of 13 through the first 10 minutes. Doogan got the first bucket, with a trey four minutes into the contest while Budnik followed the play with a trey of her own for a 6-3 Spider lead. The Rams got one final layup off with 1:01 left in the quarter for a 6-5 deficit at the break.

The Spider offense slowly got rolling late in the second quarter as a hoop-and-harm from Townsend gave UR a 9-7 lead. After the Rams tied the game at 11, a trey from Budnik sparked a 7-0 run to give the Spiders a seven-point lead, 18-11, with 3:55 left in the quarter. Two minutes later, a three-pointer from Doogan pushed the lead to 21-13, as a buzzer-beater shot from VCU sent Richmond into the locker room leading 21-16.

At the half, the Spiders were shooting 8 of 24 (33.3%) from the field, 4 of 11 (36.4%) from deep and recorded 20 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and five points off seven Ram turnovers. The team was led by Budnik, who posted eight points on 3 of 7 from the field and 2 of 4 from deep. Ryan led the rebounding efforts with five defensive boards while freshman Rachel Ullstrom recorded two thefts.

Out of the locker room, Doogan recorded a wide-open layup to give the Spiders a 23-16 advantage. Townsend followed the play with a bucket of her own, but the Rams began to scratch back at the lead and tie the game at 25. After exchanging points, Doogan and Ryan recorded back-to-back treys to enter the fourth quarter leading 36-31.

Budnik opened the final 10 minutes with a mid-range jumper to give UR a 38-31 lead, which sparked a 7-0 run from back-to-back buckets by graduate Emilija Krista Grava. Later, a layup from Townsend gave the Spiders a 15-point lead, 49-34. After the Rams recorded a trey with 1:12 left to scratch back to 49-37, senior Angel Burgos recorded a pair of buckets to give the Spiders the redemption win, 53-37.

UP NEXT – The Spiders round out the regular season on Saturday, playing host to St. Bonaventure at 6 p.m. for Senior Night and Alumni Night inside the Robins Center. The A-10 Women's Basketball Championship will be held Mar. 1-5 in Wilmington, De. Inside the Chase Fieldhouse.