Women's basketball ends winning streak against Duquesne

The University of Richmond women's basketball team took on the Duquesne Dukes looking for their third consecutive victory against the Dukes, but fell short 55-45, Saturday night. Both the Spiders and Dukes were coming off wins Wednesday and wanted to extend that fortune.

Richmond forward, Genevieve Okoro, played a productive first half with eight points and eight rebounds and finished the game with 11 and 13. Yet, after the game Okoro expressed her discontent saying, "I think I could have gotten the ball inside more, a chance to score and put me on the free throw line. Other than that we needed to disrupt them more."

Throughout the first half, the Spiders kept the game close, as the game was knotted at 8 with less than 12 minutes to play in the first half. The Spiders continued to stay aggressive as they trailed by four points, 28-24, with less than three minutes in the first half.

For most of the second half, Richmond stayed with Duquesne and trailed 39-37 with about seven minutes left in regulation. Despite the persistence, Richmond struggled to contain Duquesne forward, Wumi Agunbiade, who had a game-high 17 points, the Atlantic 10's leader in field goal percentage.

Down 50-39 with less than two minutes to play, the game was then out of reach for the Spiders, who could not connect on a series of wide-open looks. Coach Michael Shafer noted not converting hurt the Spiders: "We had a couple looks, like lay-ups that we did not hit and the other thing is we had a lot of players out of position and we literally had a day or two to get them to know what they are supposed to do, and that is difficult."

Recent freshman star Janelle Hubbard was also held in check for the majority of the game shooting just 5-19 from the floor. Although the Spiders outrebounded the Dukes 41-36, they shot a dismal 31 percent from the floor.

Shafter was quick to comment that the Spiders must shoot the ball better and take advantage of the zone defense scheme that VCU poises, in next weekend's battle of Richmond. In the meantime, the Spiders have a week off to prepare. Game time against VCU is set for 2 p.m.

Contact reporter Richard Sherman at richard.sherman@richmond.edu