Richmond Dominates VCU in Front of Crowd of 3,462 for Largest Rivalry Win Since 2002

Sunday, January 19

Richmond, Va.

2 p.m.

University of Richmond

15-5,6-1Atlantic 10

VCU

9-10,3-4Atlantic 10

VCU

Richmond

Photo by: Pixel Factory Creative Studio 2024

Richmond Dominates VCU in Front of Crowd of 3,462 for Largest Rivalry Win Since 2002

01/19/2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – Behind an electrifying crowd of 3,462, the University of Richmond women's basketball team defeated crosstown rival VCU Sunday afternoon at home, 75-42, for its largest margin of victory against the Rams dating back to December 2001. With the win, Richmond notched its fifth-straight win to improve to 15-5 overall and 6-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference play while the Rams fell to 9-10 and 3-4 in the A-10.

Richmond Starters
Sweeney, Hill, Ullstrom, Doogan, Budnik

How it Happened
Rachel Ullstrom opened the game with a layup, sparking an 8-0 run for the Spiders with efforts courtesy of Katie Hill and Addie Budnik. The Rams got off a second-chance jumper three minutes into the contest to cut into the lead, 8-2, but Hill got the Spiders back on track as she sparked a 7-0 run with four points while Faith Alston posted a trey for a 15-2 point lead. VCU managed to record another layup, but Hill completed a hoop-and-harm to push the lead to 18-4. VCU ended the quarter with three points from a layup and a lone free throw as Ally Sweeney capitalized from beyond the arc to end the first quarter with Richmond leading 21-7.

Maggie Doogan opened the second 10 minutes with a layup before the Rams responded on the other end with a layup of their own. Ullstrom then sparked a 9-0 run as the Spiders posted three back-to-back triples to build a 35-9 lead. After an off-balanced hook shot from the opposition, Ullstrom and Anna Camden combined for six points to push the lead to 30, 41-11. VCU would manage to post four points while Hill posted a triple to give the Spiders a 44-15 advantage heading into halftime.

The Rams scratched back at the lead, cutting the deficit to 25, 44-19 to open the third frame before Budnik and Hill posted two made free throws to give Richmond its first points of the second half. VCU capitalized again from the paint with a layup before Alston and Hill scored back-to-back layups to rebuild the lead back to 29, 50-21. After exchanging a few points, Alston went 2-2 from the free throw line and Sweeney recorded another trey to end the third quarter with the Spiders ahead 59-26.

Ullstrom opened the final 10 minutes with an and-one play for a 36-point lead, 62-26, before VCU responded with a three-point shot on the other end. Doogan then recorded five points to spark a 9-0 run for a 71-29 advantage. The Rams managed a 6-0 spurt before Sam Dewey got her first points off in the contest to end the scoring drought for the Spiders. VCU would end the game with back-to-back layups as Richmond took the victory, 75-42.

Notes on the Game

Richmond held VCU to only 15 points in the first half, marking the fifth time this season the Spiders have held their opponents to 15 or fewer points at the half. Earlier in the season, the Spiders held Fairfield to seven points at the half on 11/12/24, Gardner-Webb to 12 points on 11/15/24, Dayton to 10 points on 12/29/24 and UMass to 15 points on 1/5/25.
Richmond's crowd of 3.462 is a season best for the Spiders, outperforming the 2,714 attendance mark against No. 6 Texas on Dec. 15, 2024.
Richmond picked up its largest margin of victory over VCU dating back to 2002-03, besting a 79-51 home win over the Rams on Dec. 15, 2002.
Richmond picked up its fourth-straight win over VCU and moved the all-time series to 46-47.
The Spiders were paced by Katie Hill, who recorded a season-high 18 points, just shy of her career-high of 19, on 6-9 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe while contributing a three point shot. She finished the game with eight rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Three other Spiders finished the game in double figures in Rachel Ullstrom (14 pts), Maggie Doogan (12 pts) and Faith Alston (12 pts). Doogan matched Hill's eight boards to lead the team and matched a career-high three blocks for the 11th time in her career in addition to matching a career-high four thefts to lead the team.
As a team, the Spiders shot 25 of 50 (50%) from the floor, 12 of 28 (42.9%) from deep and 13 of 15 (86.7%) from the free throw line. UR also added 33 rebounds, 18 dimes, five blocks, seven steals and 25 points off 16 Ram turnovers. The Spider bench chipped in 17 points.

From Head Coach Aaron Roussell

Up Next
The Spiders hit the road for a road swing this week, as the team takes on Loyola Chicago at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 23 before traveling to on Dayton on Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. for the second matchup with the Flyers this year. Richmond returns home on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m., playing host to Rhode Island for the Play 4 Kay/Breast Cancer Awareness Game Presented by Joyner Fine Properties.