The University of Richmond women's basketball led by 17 points in the first half of Saturday afternoon's game against George Washington University, but saw its lead dwindle to a single point with 10 minutes remaining.
"I think we got a little too comfortable with the lead we had," freshman Genevieve Okoro said.
Richmond's fast-paced attack wore down the Colonials in the first half, who only had eight players available for the game because of injuries.
"A big thing for us was running the floor," Okoro said. "We wanted to do our best to run them out of the gym because we saw they were tired. We have a lot of quick players on our team, so we wanted to use that to our advantage."
Good shooting also gave the Spiders a boost in the first half. They shot 47 percent from the field and made 12 of the 14 free throws they attempted.
"In the first half we'd been playing pretty well, but we finished sluggishly," said Michael Shafer, Richmond's head coach. "In the second half we didn't have a lot of energy. I called time out and told them that it was on them to create the enthusiasm to play. And they did, they corrected themselves, which was impressive because it's hard to do. It's hard to turn it back on, so I was really pleased."
Shafer said that he was particularly impressed with the play of Okoro, who had 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in the game.
"I don't know if she can have 16 rebounds every night, but she can certainly have double-figure rebounds every night," he said. "She tracks the basketball better than any rebounder I've ever coached. You can't teach that.
"Her ability to finish around the basket against stronger and taller kids is getting better and better. I'm just really pleased that we're going to have her for three more years because I think her potential is pretty much unlimited at this point."
Shafer gave credit to George Washington's ability to control the second-half tempo.
"Had we been able to play [at the first-half pace] we would have worn them out," he said. "They did a good job of protecting themselves."
Poor shooting from the Spiders in the second half also gave the Colonials a chance to get back in the game. Richmond was 7-of-29, shooting less than 25 percent during the second half.
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Senior guard Brittani Shells scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including two key scores late in the game that extended the Spiders' lead. Her average of 19.4 points per game is second in the conference and 19th in the nation.
"I didn't want to lose," Shells said. "I had to do whatever I had to do to get us going."
With the win, Shafer became the third coach in program history to record 100 wins, joining previous coaches Fanny Crenshaw and Stephanie Gaitley.
The Spiders travel to La Salle University for their final road game of the season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Contact staff writer Zak Kozuchowski at zak.kozuchowski@richmond.edu
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