Women's basketball comes back late, beats VCU

After trailing for the entire game, Richmond took its first lead over Virginia Commonwealth with just minutes left in the game and hung on to win Wednesday’s game at the Robins Center.

Richmond started out the game poorly against the VCU press defense, turning the ball over seven times in fewer than seven minutes and missing multiple open shots from close to the basket. The Rams converted these turnovers into several easy scoring opportunities before the Spiders regained their composure and began making smarter passes to break the press. Richmond stayed within striking distance, never letting VCU completely pull away, which allowed for some late-game heroics and a 67-63 victory for the Spiders.

“To VCU’s credit, we could never really get a run,” Richmond head coach Michael Shafer said after the game. “We just had to keep grinding, but fortunately for us, our kids have been in that situation and they handled it really, really well and executed particularly well at the end.”

Shafer also pointed to early foul trouble as a disruptive influence that prevented the Spiders from establishing any sort of rhythm. Gen Okoro fouled out, Liz Brown picked up four fouls and, altogether, the Spiders committed 20 fouls throughout the course of the game.

Janelle Hubbard led the Spiders with 24 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Lauren Tolson added 16 points and six rebounds, and Liz Brown had 15 points to round out the only three Spiders in double figures. Brown sat briefly during the second half after she appeared to take an elbow to the nose, but returned minutes later and said after the game she would be fine moving forward.

For the Rams, Adaeze Alaeze and Isis Thorpe each scored 15 points, with Alaeze adding seven rebounds and four assists in a well-rounded game. Melanie Royster chipped in seven points and made her presence known on the glass with 10 rebounds as well.

Richmond had more turnovers than VCU, but after the opening minutes, the margin was fairly even. Similarly, after giving up several offensive rebounds to start the game, the Spiders started boxing out more and were only out-rebounded by three by the end of the game.

The two teams combined for 45 fouls and both teams played physically throughout the game. Regardless, Shafer thought the referees kept the game under control and maintained a safe environment for the players.

“I think they did their job,” Shafer said of the officials. “I think they called a good game. It’s a rivalry game in February, and this is what you expect.”

This win comes just days after the men’s team upset No. 14 VCU away from home in perhaps the Spiders’ best game of the season. The women’s team will have an opportunity to complete the sweep of the Rams in its season finale March 1.

In the meantime, the Spiders (14-8 overall, 6-3 in the A-10) are tied for fourth place in the conference and face a middling Saint Louis team in their next game Saturday.  

Contact reporter Walter Abrams at walter.abrams@richmond.edu