Ullstrom Matches Career-High in Spider win over Massachusetts Wednesday Morning

Wednesday, January 10

Richmond, Va.

11 a.m.

University of Richmond

14-3,4-0Atlantic 10

Massachusetts

3-13,1-3Atlantic 10

Massachusetts

Richmond

Ullstrom Matches Career-High in Spider win over Massachusetts Wednesday Morning

01/10/2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – With 26 points to match a career-high for Rachel Ullstrom, the University of Richmond Women's Basketball team defeated a physical Massachusetts team, 79-65, Wednesday morning inside the Robins Center for Education Day. With the win, the Spiders improved to 14-3 on the year, remain a perfect 7-0 at home and remain undefeated in Atlantic 10 Conference play at a 4-0 mark, the best start to conference play since 2010-11 (4-0 start). The win also marked the first win over the Minutewomen inside the Robins Center since 2/15/17.

Richmond Starters
Budnik, Doogan, Ryan, Hill, Townsend

How it Happened
Siobhan Ryan opened the scoring for Richmond with a layup, and Addie Budnik netted two free throws for a 4-0 Spider lead, but the Minutewomen battled back and posted a jumper along with a triple to take the lead at 5-4. Maggie Doogan weathered the opposition's offense and posted a triple of her own for a 7-5 Richmond lead, but the Minutewomen would respond with a 4-0 spurt to reclaim the lead at 9-7. Doogan then sparked a 7-0 run for Richmond, giving the Spiders a 14-9 advantage, before UMass scratched back to come within one, 14-13 with 3:01 left in the opening quarter. A layup from Budnik would spark a 5-0 run for the Spiders to end the first 10 minutes with UR ahead, 19-13.

After a quick triple from UMass to open the second quarter, a pair of free throws from Ullstrom and the hoop-and-harm from Ryan gave the Spiders a six-point lead, 24-18. Later, three triples from Ullstrom and Budnik gave Richmond a 33-22 advantage before the Minutewomen were able to end the scoring drought with a mid-range jumper. After exchanging a pair of buckets, UMass got a final free throw off to have Richmond ahead at the half, 35-29.

UMass came out of the break and posted a 7-0 run to take the lead at 36-35, but a layup from Budnik would give Richmond back the lead. A triple from Ullstrom would spark a 7-0 run for the home team, giving the Spiders a 47-40 advantage with 2:53 left in the quarter. Ullstrom's second trey of the quarter, in addition to free throws from Doogan and Torin Rogers gave the Spiders a 54-43 lead, but a final layup from the opposition would send Richmond into the final 10 minutes leading 54-45.

Budnik opened the final quarter with a layup, but the Minutewomen responded on the other end of the court for a 56-47 Spider lead. After exchanging points, a layup from UMass would cut the UR lead to 64-59, but Ullstrom would respond with another triple to spark an 11-0 run for the Spiders for a 75-61 Richmond advantage. The Spiders would end the game with four free throws courtesy of Ullstrom and Townsend to take the A-10 win 79-65.

Inside the Box Score

Richmond was led by Rachel Ullstrom, who came off the bench and matched a career-high 26 points on 8 of 13 from the field, 6 of 11 from deep and a perfect 4 of 4 from the charity stripe. In addition, the sophomore posted a team-high eight rebounds and had two assists.
Three other Spiders also finished in double figures, Addie Budnik (16 pts), Maggie Doogan (12 pts) and Grace Townsend (10 pts).
Townsend led the team with seven dimes and three steals while Budnik posted a team-high four blocks.
As a team, the Spiders shot 27 of 51 (52.9%) from the field, 10 of 26 (38.5%) from deep and 15 of 19 (78.9%) from the free throw line. In addition, the team recorded 32 rebounds, 20 assists, six thefts, four blocks and 19 points off 16 UMass turnovers. The Spider bench posted 32 points, led by Ullstrom.
Grace Townsend brought her career-total points to 977.
Ullstrom posted her third 20-point career game, second of the season.
The Spiders defeated UMass inside the Robins Center for the first time since 2/15/17 (W, 56-45), and snapped a six-game skid against the Minutewomen dating back to 2018.
The 4-0 start to conference play is the best start for the Spiders since 2010-11, where Richmond was 4-0 in conference play before falling to Dayton on 1/22/11.

From Head coach Aaron Roussell and Rachel Ullstrom

Up Next
The Spiders continue conference play on Sunday, as the team plays host to Rhode Island at noon inside the Robins Center. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network. The team continues its conference road slate on Jan. 17 at Davidson at 7 p.m.