Spiders Hold Off Late Duquesne Surge, Advance to A-10 Semis on Saturday

Friday, March 7

Henrico, Va.

11 a.m.

University of Richmond

27-5,17-1Atlantic 10

No. 9 Duquesne

19-12,9-9Atlantic 10

Duquesne

Richmond

Spiders Hold Off Late Duquesne Surge, Advance to A-10 Semis on Saturday

03/07/2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score A-10 Championship Central Photo Gallery

HENRICO, Va. – With Duquesne taking the lead deep in the fourth quarter, Alyssa Jimenez shot a dagger from three-point range to swing the momentum back to the No. 1-seeded Spiders as the University of Richmond women's basketball team ground out a 63-58 win over No. 9 Duquesne Friday morning in the Atlantic 10 Conference quarterfinal matchup. With the win, the Spiders advance to the semifinal game on Saturday at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network and improved their record to 27-5 on the year while the Dukes end their tournament run at 19-12.

Richmond Starters
Sweeney, Hill, Ullstrom, Doogan, Budnik

How it Happened
Duquesne opened the game with a layup before Maggie Doogan responded on the other end with a triple. The teams then exchanged back-to-back buckets as the Dukes saw a three-point lead, 8-5, before Doogan again capitalized from deep with her second triple to tie the game at eight. Addie Budnik followed the triple with a layup, sparking an 8-0 run for the Spiders with efforts courtesy of Rachel Ullstrom and Alyssa Jimenez for a 16-8 UR lead. The Dukes then managed back-to-back treys to scratch back to 16-14, but two made free throws from Doogan ended the quarter with the Spiders on top, 18-14.

The Dukes opened the second frame with a jumper before Katie Hill responded with a layup to preserve a four-point lead, 20-16. Budnik responded to Hill's layup with a jumper to push the lead to six, but the opposition continued to score on the opposite end, scratching back to cut the lead to 24-23. Sweeney and Budnik ended the scoring drought with a pair of layups, but a 4-0 spurt from the Dukes cut the Spider lead back down to one, 28-27. Sweeney posted two made free throws while Ullstrom added a layup to send Richmond into the locker room with a slight advantage, 31-27.

Hill recorded back-to-back layups to open the third frame, giving the Spiders an eight-point advantage, 35-27. After a lone layup from the opposition, Budnik hit a trey to push the Spider lead to nine. After exchanging a few points, a 4-0 spurt from Duquesne cut the lead to five, 37-42, with 2:51 left in the quarter, but Doogan got the Spiders back on the offensive end with a made free throw and Budnik followed with another trey. The Dukes managed another layup, but Doogan buried a trey for Richmond on the other end for a 10-point advantage, 49-39. A final jumper from Duquesne would send UR into the final frame leading 49-41.

Ally Sweeney pushed the Spiders back up by 10, 51-41, to open the final 10 minutes off a layup before two triples from Duquesne brought the Dukes back within four. After a triple from Jimenez, Duquesne managed a 9-0 run to take the lead, 56-54 with 3:23 left in the game. After a timeout from the Spiders, Jimenez again capitalized from deep while Ullstrom put back a second-chance layup for a three-point Spider advantage, 59-56. Duquesne then recorded an additional layup while Sweeney responded on the other end. Budnik and Faith Alston posted two made free throws to end the game, sending Richmond to the next round with a 63-58 win.

Notes on the Game

The Spiders were paced by Addie Budnik, who finished the game with 15 points in addition to five rebounds, an assist and a block.
Two other Spiders ended the game in double figures in Maggie Doogan (12 pts) and Ally Sweeney (10 pts). Doogan led the team with three blocks and seven rebounds while Sweeney and Rachel Ullstrom picked up six boards each. Sweeney dished out six dimes to lead the team.
As a team, the Spiders shot 23-of-52 (44.2%) from the floor, 9-of-29 (31%) from deep and 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the charity stripe. In addition, the Spiders recorded 36 rebounds, 13 assists, six blocks and two steals while the Spiders were active in the lane, scoring 28 points there.
The victory marks 17 straight wins for the Spiders, a program best.

Postgame Press Conference

Up Next
The Spiders will take on the winner of No. 4 Saint Joseph's and No. 5 Rhode Island on Saturday at 11 a.m. with the game being nationally broadcast on CBSSN.

Gallery: (3-7-2025) Atlantic 10 Championship QF vs Duquesne