Heartbreaker at the Buzzer: Spiders Fall to Saint Joseph's in A-10 Semifinals

Saturday, March 8

Henrico, Va.

11 a.m.

University of Richmond

27-6,17-1Atlantic 10

No. 4 Saint Joseph's

23-8,12-6Atlantic 10

Saint Joseph's

Richmond

Heartbreaker at the Buzzer: Spiders Fall to Saint Joseph's in A-10 Semifinals

03/08/2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score A-10 Recap

HENRICO, Va. – The University of Richmond women's basketball team concluded its run in the 2025 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in the semifinals Saturday morning, falling to No. 4 Saint Joseph's, 50-49, off a buzzer-beater layup from the Hawks. With the setback, the Spiders fell to 27-6 while the Hawks advance to the A-10 Championship game against No. 2 George Mason at 23-8 overall.

Richmond Starters
Sweeney, Hill, Ullstrom, Doogan, Budnik

How it Happened
The Hawks opened the game with a triple before Maggie Doogan responded on the other end with a layup. A layup from SJU gave the opposition a three-point lead, 5-2, but Katie Hill kept the Spiders within one with a layup. A triple from SJU gave the opposition a four-point lead, 8-4, but Katie Hill answered with a basket to keep Richmond within two, 8-6. The Hawks then managed a 5-0 spurt to build their lead to seven, 13-6, but a huge triple from Ullstrom trimmed the deficit to four, 13-9, with 3:11 left in the opening frame. After a layup from SJU, Ullstrom again netted a trey while SJU ended the quarter with two made free throws to lead 17-12.

Richmond stormed back on a 10-2 run to open the second frame, including a key triple from Alyssa Jimenez, who tied the game at 17. Richmond took the lead off a trey from Ally Sweeney, 20-17, while SJU responded with a layup to stay within one. After exchanging a few points, Faith Alston and Jimenez combined for four points to push the Spider lead to three, 26-23, but a final jumper from the Hawks sent Richmond into the locker room at the half with a one-point lead, 26-25.

The Hawks were quick to get a triple off to open the third quarter before Budnik immediately responded on the other end with a trey of her own to preserve the one-point Spider lead, 29-28. After exchanging a few points on both ends, Jimenez tied the game at 34 off a made free throw, while Budnik followed the play with a triple to build a three-point UR lead, 37-34. Alston pushed the lead to four off a lone free throw, but the Hawks kept Richmond within one with a triple. Budnik hit a fadeaway jumper with 20 seconds left, sending UR into the final 10 minutes leading 40-37.

Sweeney opened the final 10 minutes with a layup before the Hawks went on a 5-0 spurt to tie the game at 42. Ullstrom recorded a layup before a 4-0 run for the Hawks gave SJU the lead, 46-44, with just over two minutes remaining. Three free throws from Richmond gave the Spiders back the lead, 47-46. After the Hawks managed to go back up a point with 11 seconds left, Doogan recorded a tough layup to give Richmond a 49-48 advantage with three seconds remaining. Despite the late bucket from Doogan, SJU hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to win the game, 50-49, over the Spiders.

Notes on the Game

Rachel Ullstrom paced the Spiders with 16 points, while Addie Budnik (10 pts) also finished in double figures.
Budnik and Anna Camden led the team with five rebounds each while Doogan saw three assists to lead the Spiders. Budnik finished the game with four blocks while Doogan picked up two thefts.
As a team, Richmond shot 19-of-45 (42.2%) from the floor, 6-of-19 (31.6%) from deep and 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the charity stripe. In addition, Richmond recorded 28 rebounds, nine assists, eight blocks and six steals.
The Hawks snapped a 17-game win streak for the Spiders, a program best.
Richmond is now 2-4 in A-10 semifinal contests as Richmond saw its sixth appearance in the semifinals.
Richmond suffered its first loss since dropping an 80-78 decision on Jan. 2 at Fordham.