Women's basketball focuses on A-10 play

The University of Richmond women's basketball team had a slow start this season, but is aiming for a big finish: the Atlantic-10 conference title and an invitation to play in the NCAA Tournament.

With a 13-5 overall record, the team entered conference play early this month and claimed three successive wins against George Washington University, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Rhode Island.

Players such as Brittani Shells, Crystal Goring and Abby Oliver contributed high scores during each game, but the team attributed a unique chemistry both on and off the courts to its success.

"I think all really great teams have good chemistry," coach Michael Shafer said. "And if they don't, at a point and time of adversity they fold because there is no substance underneath."

When the coaching staff sat the players down at the beginning of the season, he said, the team had agreed its goals would be to win the conference and play in the NCAA, he said.

"They are a tremendous group of young ladies," Shafer said. "They are personable and get along really well, which carries over to the court."

But it has taken some time for this chemistry to carry over into game play, he said.

"We aren't the most talented, aren't the tallest, fastest or have the best skill set, but chemistry adds a lot," Shafer said. "The team is special. They can battle because they have each other's backs."

Three seniors lead the team with experience, he said, but six freshmen help to solidify the starting lineup.

"We have great veterans showing the freshmen the ropes," Shells said. "When we leave, we will leave our legacy because they will use what we instilled in them."

Shafer said he had attributed some of the bonding among the players to a four-game, 10-day team trip to Sweden and Norway in August before the season started.

He said the team had demonstrated immediate cohesiveness off the court and abroad, but that the challenge now would be for the players to mesh their different skill and experience levels during game play.

"After the first couple of losses, I think the girls have a better understanding of each other, their roles and what is expected of them," he said.

The team struggled early in the season when two of its key players, junior guard Rachael Bilney and her replacement, freshman guard Kristina Puthoff-King, suffered serious injuries, Shafer said.

These injuries affected the team more than he would have liked to admit, he said.

Shells said that losing two of the team's bigger guards had made it one of the smaller teams in the A-10.

Shafer said that when the team had started practices in August, it didn't have great size in the post, but skill in the guards.

"Losing Rachael was a blow," he said. "We lost a leader, a shooter and some great experience.

"When Kristina stepped in and then suffered an injury, the team was forced to re-evaluate what it had. What we started with we don't have now. It has certainly changed the way we play."

Senior guard Kara Powell said she attributed the rocky start to the team's mental lapse when assessing opponents in early games.

"We played teams that weren't ranked, and we didn't take them seriously," she said.

After its first couple of early season losses, the team was focused on doing all that it takes to claim the A-10 title and play in the NCAA, she said.

"We need to continue to have good team chemistry on and off the court," Powell said. "We can't take any game lightly. If our defense continues to do well, we will be NCAA-bound."

Shells also said how important it would be for each team member to work hard every day, whether in practice or in a game.

"As any team in the A-10, we want to go, and not just go," she said. "We want to win."

Shafer said that although winning the conference and getting to the NCAA were team goals, fostering personal growth within each player was also a top priority.

"We want the girls to keep getting better every day," he said. "This may mean a huge step, or a giant step, for some. But if they continue to better themselves, they will find success."

Contact reporter Kaylin Polizer at kaylin.polizer@richmond.edu