Richmond women’s basketball has started its season with two wins against Old Dominion University and Eastern Kentucky University.
The first win against Old Dominion on Friday was largely influenced by the third quarter, during which Richmond scored over a third of its 62 total points. Despite building an early six-point lead, the Spiders trailed for most of the first half. Their biggest deficit came in the middle of the second quarter when they trailed by nine points, but managed to go into halftime down by only four.
The Spiders’ inspired third quarter brought 22 points to Old Dominion’s eight, putting Richmond in the lead by 10. Though the Monarchs made a strong effort to overcome the deficit, outscoring Richmond in the fourth quarter by five, but Richmond was able to hold them off for a 62-57 win.
The Spiders second win of the weekend against Eastern Kentucky was dominant. Most of their scoring occurred in the first half this time, as they held a 28-point lead at halftime. Richmond then extended that lead to a game high of 31 in the third quarter. Although Eastern Kentucky outscored Richmond in the second half by nine points, Richmond again held on for the win, 81-62.
Spider guards Janelle Hubbard and Lauren Tolson were the leading scorers in the first two games. Hubbard scored 20 points against Old Dominion and Tolson scored 21 against Eastern Kentucky.
“We’d like to use a little bit more of our inside play, simply to make the defense collapse so that our guards can be open,” Coach Michael Schafer told SpiderTV a couple of days before the season opener. “I mean I think it’s a hand-in-hand thing, our guards are really good but the defenses know that.”
The majority of scoring came from the guards in the first two games, showing that Coach Schafer’s game plan was effective. As the season continues, the Spiders will look to the guards for leadership, where the majority of experience is held. Tolson and Hubbard are joined by three other upperclassmen guards--Bria Powell, Olivia Healy and Dazia Hall.
The Spiders face William & Mary next at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20 in the Robins Center.
Contact sportswriter Colby Wilcox at colby.wilcox@richmond.edu
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