Spider Sports Recap: Week of Nov. 17

Women’s Basketball 

Nov. 20: Win 76-73 vs. the College of William & Mary 

The Spiders beat William & Mary 76-73 to improve to 4-1 for the first time since 2015. Sophomore Kate Klimkiewicz knocked down two clutch free throws with 14 seconds left in the game to put the Spiders ahead of the Tribe. Klimkiewicz finished the game with a career-high 21 points, along with eight rebounds and four assists. The team shot a season-high 50.9% from the field and a notable 62.5% from three. Redshirt junior Kaila Clark led the team in rebounds with a season-high of nine. She also had four points and two assists for the Spiders. 

Nov. 24: Loss 52-58 at Drexel University 

The women’s basketball team lost to Drexel 52-58 in a defense dominant game. With 1:30 left in the game, sophomore Aniyah Carpenter hit a corner three to put the Spiders within one at 52-53. Carpenter would finish with 10 points, five assists and two rebounds. The Spiders then failed to score for the remainder of the game because of strong play by the Dragons' defense. Sophomore Emma Squires led the team with 14 points. She also finished with seven rebounds and two assists. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for UR. 

Women’s Swimming and Diving

Nov. 21-23: Patriot Invitational at George Mason University 

After the first day of competition, the Spiders had tallied 115 points, putting them in sixth place. Sophomore Maggie Purcell and senior Eliza Manning each earned a Richmond All-Time Top Ten spot for their performances in the 200 individual medley. Purcell finished with a time of 2 minutes, 2.46 seconds, putting her fifth all-time, and Manning finished with a time of 2:03.64, putting her 10th all-time. The 400-medley relay team of senior Hannah Gouger, Purcell, first-year Claire O'Shaughnessy and first-year Lauren Medlin finished fourth with a team season-best time of 3:47.41. Sophomore Emma Yeakley added 11 points for the Spiders in her 3-meter diving event, in which she placed eighth with a score of 225.95. Florida Atlantic University finished the first day with 274 points, leading the invitational.

The Spiders managed to put up 156 points in their second day of competition, bringing their total score to 271 points and keeping them in sixth place. Purcell earned her second Richmond All-Time Top Ten spot of the weekend when she finished first with a time of 4:20.22 in the 400-individual medley. The 200-medley relay team of Gouger, Purcell, O’Shaughnessy and Medlin finished with a season-best time of 1:44.92. The team finished in sixth place. Senior Sydney Weiskopf placed ninth in her 1-meter diving event with a score of 213.90. Drexel University led the invitational after two days with 592 points.

With a total score of 372, the Spiders managed to finish sixth at the nine-team Patriot Invitational. In the final day of competition, Gouger finished third in the 200-backstroke with a time of 1:59.75. Manning finished first in her heat for the 100-freestyle with a time of 52.92. Sophomore Ashley Meyer recorded her season-best time in the 200-breaststroke event with a time of 2:28.34. The Drexel Dragons finished first at the invitational with a team score of 850. 

Men’s Basketball

Nov. 22: Win 87-57 vs. McNeese State University

The men’s basketball team beat McNeese State 87-57 to open up its season 4-0 for the first time since 1985. Redshirt junior Blake Francis led the way for the Spiders with a game-high 20 points and also added three assists. The Spiders shot 57.1% from deep, making a total of 16 threes. Redshirt junior Nick Sherod made five of those 16 three-pointers, finishing with 17 points. The team outrebounded McNeese State 35-26, with junior Nathan Cayo, sophomore Andre Gustavson and redshirt junior Grant Golden all leading the team with six rebounds each. Junior Jacob Gilyard finished with 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. 

Football 

Nov. 23: Loss 15-21 vs. William & Mary

In the final game of its season and the 130th meeting for the Capital Cup, the Spiders football team lost on an overtime touchdown 15-21 to rival William & Mary. The Spiders finish the season 5-7 overall and 4-4 in conference play. First-year Savon Smith led the offense with 132 yards of total offense, a career high. Thirty-three of those yards came from running the ball, and 99 yards came from receiving. Graduate transfer Charlie Fessler had the only UR touchdown on the day with a 17-yard pass from redshirt junior quarterback Joe Mancuso. Senior Daniel Jones had a season-high 14 tackles, and senior Trent Williams got his first interception on the season and also managed to block a punt for the Spiders, which resulted in a safety. First-year Tristan Wheeler finished the day with 11 tackles, making him the first true freshmen in Colonial Athletic Association conference history to record 100 or more tackles in a season, with 104. All of the Tribe’s regulation points came off of UR turnovers. The loss breaks the Spiders' two-game winning streak in the series.

Contact sports writer Krystian Hajduczka at krystian.hajduczka@richmond.edu