Richmond cruises by Saint Louis in seniors' last game

University of Richmond senior Johanna McKnight made sure her Senior Night would be special.

McKnight scored the first six points of the game and ended with a season-high 19, adding 10 rebounds in her final game at the Robins Center to help lead the University of Richmond women's basketball team to a win over Saint Louis University on Sunday afternoon.

"I was talking to my teammates and they said 'your first game you had a double-double and now your last game you got a double-double,'" McKnight said. "That's the only double-doubles I had all season. So it's fun and exciting [to end like that.]"

With the win, the Spiders clinch the fourth seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, which gives Richmond a bye. The Spiders will face either the University of Rhode Island or George Washington University on March 7 in Charlotte, N.C.

Richmond used a 17-3 run over the last eight minutes of the first half to turn a tie game into a blowout by halftime. The Billikens failed to score a basket over the last five minutes of the half.

The strong play continued in the second half as the Billikens were held without a basket for the first five minutes.

"It's something we are good at," Richmond coach Michael Shafer said. "It's like anything else, even if you are good at it you still have to practice it and sometimes we take that for granted.

"Now that we are going back to defense [in practice], we are holding people to low-scoring games. [Saint Louis] averaged 65 points per game, and for the most part, we did a really good job on them. We contested shots, and I think that defense helps you win basketball games, or at least makes your offense better."

The lead was as large as 25 points with just more than eight minutes to play in the game. But Saint Louis made a late charge. going on a 22-5 run to cut the Richmond advantage to eight. Still, the Spiders were able to respond and increased the lead to double-digits again.

Before the start of the game, both McKnight and senior Augustina Zygaite were honored for Senior Night.

"This is the game that they will remember the most and to go out with a win is something they will never forget," Shafer said. "For what they have given to us and to change the culture to winning, I can't thank them enough."

Richmond took advantage of shaky ball-handling by the Billikens, scoring 22 points off of 24 Saint Louis turnovers.

Sophomore Brittani Shells shook off a rough game against Fordham on Feb. 24 to end the afternoon with 20 points. Shells is the team's leading scorer, with an average of 14.8 points per game.

Three-point shooting was the weakness for the Spiders, who connected on only two of 12 attempts.

The win improved Richmond to 21-8 -- its best record since the 2005 season. That season, the Spiders advanced to the NCAA Tournament -- a bid this Richmond squad could garner with a strong performance in the A-10 tournament.

"I think we are definitely in the mix," Shafer said about getting an NCAA bid. "We should be talked about at least, and that's all we can ask for."

Contact staff writer Andrew Prezioso at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu