Spiders grit one out
VCU’s Jessica Taylor (left) and UR’s Samantha Bilney scrap for a loose ball in the first half of their game at Robins Center.
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VIC DORR JR.
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: December 4, 2008
The Spiders knew what was coming: a floorburns-and-bruises kind of game that no one -- not even the winner -- enjoys.
"It was a long game -- I mean, a really long game," said University of Richmond point guard Brittani Shells in the glad-it's-over-with aftermath of last night's 56-48 homecourt victory over crosstown rival Virginia Commonwealth University. "It was rough and physical and after a while I started thinking, 'Oh, man. Is this thing ever going to end?'"
Shells likely wasn't alone. The two teams, physically similar at virtually every position, made it difficult for one another to function at all -- let alone function with any degree of elegance -- at the offensive end of the floor. Both teams finished with more turnovers than field goals. The Rams scored only 15 first-half points. The Spiders scored only two points during an ugly 7½-minute stretch at the midpoint of the second half.
"Sometimes you're going to have games like this," said Shells, a sophomore who led unbeaten Richmond (7-0) with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting. "When you do, you have to do what we did tonight: We dug down deep and found a way to compete."
Said Spiders coach Michael Shafer: "We didn't expect it to be pretty. These kids know each other. They play pickup together [during the offseason]. The coaching staffs know each other. So what we expected was what we got: a backyard brawl of a game -- and I mean that in a good way. I'm very pleased that we were able to play through the ugliness."
Last year -- when the Spiders trudged to a 14-17 finish -- "I doubt that we'd have been able to do that," Shafer added.
Richmond, which has allowed only one opponent to score more than 50 points, never trailed. The Spiders used a rare offensive eruption -- three 3-pointers in a span of four possessions -- to build a double-digit lead late in the first half.
VCU (4-2) trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half before launching a spirited comeback. The Rams trailed 43-36 after post player Quanitra Hollingsworth scored from deep in the paint with 3:53 remaining.
UR deflated the rally with a pair of daggers: a 16-footer from the right wing by post player Crystal Goring and, on the Spiders' next possession, Shells' 18-footer from the top of the key with the shot clock hurrying toward zero.
Spiders guard Johanna McKnight scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Goring added eight points and eight rebounds and helped hold Hollingsworth, VCU's 6-5 senior, without a field goal until less than six minutes remained. By game's end, Hollingsworth had collected the 40th double-double of her career: 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Rams coach Beth Cunningham said her club did not match the Spiders' appetite for battle.
"We didn't come with an assertive mentality, and I think that hurt us at both ends of the floor," Cunningham said. "It wasn't until about the nine-minute mark that we started playing with the urgency that we wanted and needed to bring from the beginning."
Richmond will play host to William and Mary on Saturday. Georgetown visits VCU on Sunday.
VCU (4-2)
Hollingsworth 15, Lane 2, Bachvarova 5, Rorie 0, Moss 9, Patterson 0, Waller 11, Taylor 6. Totals: 18 10-13 48. 3-point goals: Bachvarova, Waller.
RICHMOND (7-0)
Shells 16, S. Bilney 2, Thomas 3, Bell 7, Goring 8, Tharrington 0, Oliver 4, R. Bilney 3, McKnight 13, Zygaite 0. Totals: 22 7-12 56. 3-point goals: Shells 2, Bell, R. Bilney, McKnight.
Halftime: Richmond 26-15
A: 955
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