The University of Richmond women's basketball team lost 73-62 Wednesday afternoon at the Robins Center against Atlantic 10 Conference foe, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The Spiders, who came into today's home game winning four of their past five games, were out-rebounded 53-42. The athletic 49ers also brought a height advantage to the game with four players 6-feet or taller seeing playing time. UNCC sophomore forward Jennifer Hailey scored a game-high and career-high 26 points, and also grabbed 14 rebounds.
The back-and-forth battle began early in the first half with senior center Crystal Goring scoring the first foul shots for the Spiders, and then senior guard Brittani Shells making a lay-up in transition.
The 49ers heavily relied on Hailey early in the game, as she scored eight of Charlotte's first 10 points.
Richmond junior guard Abby Oliver sparked a 6-2 run with a jumper in transition with 13:24 remaining in the first half. UNCC answered by scoring five straight baskets, pushing its lead to 25-15 with 8:34 left in the first half.
The Spiders battled back by capitalizing off of 49ers' turnovers, going on a 9-4 run late in the first half. The 49ers led 35-29 at the half.
Oliver started out the second half with a lay-up in transition off of a steal, and then made a 3-pointer on the Spiders' next possession. The Spiders went on an 8-2 run to open up the second half, and they continued to light up with lay-ups and jumpers in transition.
A 3-point shot by Oliver off of a Spider steal with 7:40 remaining in the game capped off a 13-6 run, but then turnovers and missed baskets plagued the Spiders.
The 49ers took a time out with 7:23 remaining in the game and began to extend the score beyond Richmond's reach.
But the Spiders would not give up. Goring scored underneath the basket with an assist from Shells to bring the Spiders within six with 1:02 left in the game. But the Spiders had to foul the 49ers to stop the clock, and the 49ers made 8-10 free throws to close out the game.
Oliver said that the team needs to get tougher on defense and go after the rebounds more, especially heading into Saturday's game against Temple University.
"Charlotte went after the rebounds, and they were able to grab a lot of offensive rebounds and score on put-backs," she said.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Oliver also said that to prepare for next game, the team would need to make more contact and box out when going after rebounds.
"We have to do the extra things," she said. "When they start to make a run, we need to get energy for ourselves so we can make scoring runs happen for us."
Richmond coach Michael Shafer said that the key for his team now, after dropping back-to-back conference losses at home, was to overcome adversity.
"We're simply not playing our best right now," he said.
He also said that since the Spiders did not have the height advantage, opponents were exploiting that.
"Rebounding is certainly a weakness for our team, but we're doing all we can to fix the problem," he said. "We'll continue to be exploited by other teams until we can get all five players on the court to box out and grab the ball."
Though Shafer said he was proud of how the Spiders battled back in the second half, the team cannot afford to have to battle back every game.
"We have the potential to be a very good team, but our margin of error is very small," he said. "When mistakes are made, they are magnified, creating a tougher time to rebound from that mistake."
The Spiders (13-7, 4-2) travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to face Temple, (13-6, 4-0) on Saturday Jan. 29.
Contact staff writer Amelia Vogler at amelia.vogler@richmond.edu
Support independent student media
You can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking the button below, which takes you to our secure PayPal account. The page is set up to receive contributions in whatever amount you designate. We look forward to using the money we raise to further our mission of providing honest and accurate information to students, faculty, staff, alumni and others in the general public.
Donate Now
