Almost a year ago, then-senior, University of Richmond women’s basketball forward Addie Budnik, and Head Coach Aaron Roussell embraced as she checked out of the game.
The Spiders were moments away from winning their first conference championship since 1991, and Budnik, who dealt with a pandemic just months into her UR career and had battled all the way to the conference’s biggest stage, was celebrating with her head coach.
Unfortunately for the Spiders, they won’t be able to replicate that moment this postseason following a 50-49 loss to Saint Joseph’s University in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinal on March 8.
UR, who finished with a 26-5 record, won the A-10 regular season championship for a second-straight year and entered the conference tournament with the one-seed, was primed for another championship. The Spiders were able to defeat Duquesne University in the quarterfinal, but it was ultimately the semifinal round that timed out their 2025 conference postseason run.
The game appeared to be in the Spiders’ grasp after junior forward Maggie Doogan scored to put UR ahead, 49-48, with just under four seconds to go in regulation. A basket at the buzzer from Saint Joseph’s junior forward Laura Ziegler – who was in the running for A-10 Player of the Year alongside Doogan – however, dashed any hopes of a chance at the title for the Spiders.
“The highs and lows of March, right?” Roussell said in the postgame press conference. “A really tough, hard fought game by both teams. I don’t know what the biggest lead was for anybody, but it felt like it was really back and forth.”
Roussell’s analysis was spot on, as the game was as back and forth as it could be with play proving hotly contested from the opening tip. Neither team inched out a lead by more than seven points – an edge Saint Joseph’s established in the first quarter – and there were 16 lead changes when all was said and done.
After the Hawks went ahead 13-6, the Spiders eventually hit their stride offensively.
It took some time, but an 8-0 run, thanks to a basket from junior guard Rachel Ullstrom and a pair of 3-pointers from graduate guard Alyssa Jimenez and sophomore guard Ally Sweeney, eventually got UR in the driver’s seat to lead Saint Joseph’s 20-17 almost three minutes into the second quarter.
From there, either team’s lead never grew to more than a few points. At halftime, the Spiders had a one-point nod, 26-25, and heading into the fourth quarter, UR had a three-point nod, 40-37.
In the end, though, the Hawks, who outscored the Spiders 13-9 over the final 10 minutes of regulation, were the ones who emerged victorious 50-49 – by a point, and in a matter of seconds.
“‘Don’t let it take away from everything else that we’ve accomplished and done this season,’” senior guard Katie Hill said, speaking to the message in the locker room following the loss.
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Unfortunately, looking back at UR’s performance, its squad shot just 62.5% from the charity stripe throughout the game. All told, this meant the Spiders left three points at the free throw line – three points that could have come in handy on the scoreboard down the stretch.
Ullstrom led the Spiders with 16 points, her 3-point shooting giving UR a spark in the heat of play. UR’s only other double-figure scorer was Budnik, who finished with 10 points.
Given the Spiders’ NCAA Tournament prospects heading into the A-10 Tournament, it is likely they still have basketball left to play.
In the most recent Associated Press top-25 poll, UR received 21 votes, and during its non-conference schedule, took on currently ranked juggernauts like the University of Texas, the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama and Oklahoma State University.
“I literally don’t know what else we could have done,” Roussell said. “I mean, that was a tough, heartbreaking loss, buzzer beater. That’s the second buzzer beater out of, what do we have, five losses, six losses? And three of those other losses are to teams that are probably hosting in the NCAA Tournament. We were told last year, ‘go get as many top-50 games as you can get.’ I’ve got the receipts, I’ve got the records of all the phone calls that we made.”
Until the Selection Sunday show on March 16, however, when the field of teams in the NCAA Tournament will be set in stone, the Spiders will await their fate.
“I’d like to think that our chances are good,” Roussell said. “I know this is a group that expects to be there and I don’t think there’s a lot of people out there that are lining up to play us, so hopefully that means something, too.”
Contact contributor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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