The Blue Devils defeat the women’s basketball team

The University of Richmond women's basketball team lost to Duke University 100-49 in the Robins Center on Dec. 4 at 2 pm. The Spiders are 6-2, and the Blue Devils are 7-1. 

The Spiders and Blue Devils got off to slow starts in the first quarter with a score of 15-7. The Blue Devils got the first points on the scoreboard off a block on the defensive side, with a quick offensive transition. The Blue Devils held the lead for the entirety of the game.

It was the momentum of the Blue Devils at the start of the second quarter that pushed them to defeat the Spiders by 51 points. They went on a 14-0 run and soon pushed its lead to 29-7, forcing the Spiders to call a timeout with 6:58 left. The Blue Devils continued to grow their lead by 30 points. The Spiders only tallied 18 points to close out the half. 

"You give up 73 points over the span of two quarters, that's going to tell you how things go," Spider head coach Aaron Roussell said. “I thought we had some decent looks, and then sometimes they just suffocated us and we weren't able to get good looks."

First-year guard Rachel Ullstrom led the Spiders with 11 points. Ten players from the Blue Devils stepped on the court, and all of them scored. The Spiders had an unlucky night of shooting, with 28% accuracy from the court. The Blue Devils shot 59.5% from the court. 

The Spiders had 18 turnovers, and the Blue Devils capitalized by scoring 30 points off turnovers. 

Opening up the third quarter the Blue Devils scored three back-to-back 3-pointers. The Blue Devils went on a 13-0 run to close out the third quarter and extended their lead by 51 points, sending them into the fourth quarter.

The Spiders were able to outscore the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter, 14-12, but it wasn’t enough to gain the lead. This will be the Blue Devils' second game of the season where they have amassed a three-digit score. The Blue Devils scored 49 points from the bench. 

For the team’s next game, the Spiders will take on Longwood University at 2 p.m. on Dec. 11 in the Robins Center.

Contact sports writer Lexie Moskovit at lexie.moskovit@richmond.edu.