Spiders fall to No. 1 UMass in A-10 Championship Semifinal

Saturday, March 4

Wilmington, De.

11 a.m.

University of Richmond

20-10,8-6Atlantic 10

UMass

26-5,14-2Atlantic 10

Richmond

Massachusetts

Spiders fall to No. 1 UMass in A-10 Championship Semifinal

03/04/2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score A-10 Bracket

WILMINGTON, De. – The University of Richmond comeback bid over No. 1 UMass fell just short Saturday afternoon, as the Spiders fell 80-60 against the Minutewomen in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal game inside Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, De. The Spiders rounded out the tournament with a 20-10 overall record while UMass improved to 26-5 overall and will play in the A-10 Championship game on Sunday at noon.

"It's tough," said Head Coach Aaron Roussell. "There's never a good way to bow out of the tournament, but we can look back on the year and see how far we've come as a program. This game was a great building block for the future, and I think the future of this program is very bright."

The Spiders were led by junior Addie Budnik, who posted 25 points in the contest in addition to two dimes and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. Freshman Rachel Ullstrom chipped in 10 points in the contest while freshman Maggie Doogan and junior Grace Townsend led the team with six boards each. As a team, the Spiders shot 22 of 49 (44.9%) from the field, 4 of 19 (21.1%) from deep and 12 of 14 (85.7%) from the line in addition to 25 rebounds, 11 assists five steals and two blocks.

Budnik got things rolling for the spiders with a layup two minutes into the contest. After UMass tied the game at two, the Minutewomen went on a 7-0 run to build a 9-2 lead before Townsend ended the scoring drought with a driving layup to cut the deficit to 9-4 with 3:39 left in the quarter. Richmond ended the quarter with a pair of free throws courtesy of Budnik and a trey from junior Siobhan Ryan to end the first 10 minutes down 17-9.

To open the second quarter, Ullstrom recorded a trey, sparking a 9-3 run for a 21-20 Spider lead. Following the run, Budnik recorded a driving layup to push the Spider lead to 23-20 with 6:16 left in the half. After the Minutewomen tied the game at 28, the teams exchanged points as time winded down. UMass got one final shot off with 36 seconds left to go into the locker room with a slight lead, 32-30.

Through 20 minutes, the Spiders were shooting 11 of 22 (50%%) from the field, 4 of 10 (40%) from deep and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line. In addition, the team posted 12 rebounds, six assists, a block and three thefts. Individually, Budnik paced the team with 11 points while Ullstrom chipped in 10 points. Townsend facilitated the offense, dropping 10 dimes while she combined for six rebounds with Doogan.

The Minutewomen slowly began to build a seven-point lead, 41-34, to begin the third quarter. Graduate Emilija Krista Grava recorded a layup to cut the deficit to 41-36, but UM stayed physical and ended the quarter on an 8-0 run to enter the fourth quarter up 55-42.

The fourth quarter opened with a 7-0 run from the Spiders to cut the deficit to 66-53 with 4:22 left in the game. Following the run, UM continued to apply pressure to the Spider defense and built a 19 point lead, 77-58 from a layup and four free throws. A final pair of free throws and a trey from the opposition gave UMass the semifinal victory, 80-60.