Game Recap: Richmond Spiders lose to Howard University 65-54

Women’s basketball loses second straight.

After suffering a 73-49 loss to VCU this past Sunday, on Dec. 22, the Richmond Spiders fell to Howard University 65-54, collecting their third loss of the season.

The Spiders move to 3-3 as they enter conference play at the start of the new year. 

The Spiders started strong in the first quarter leading 10-5 for the first five minutes of the game, but following eight turnovers in the first quarter alone, the team entered the second quarter trailing 15-18.  

In the second quarter of the game, Howard and UR split even, each scoring 12 points each with the Bison going into halftime leading 30-27. UR shot 34.4% from the field while going just 1-9 from downtown, first-year guard Grace Townsend drained the only three.  

At the start of the second half, the Spiders outscored Howard 13-5, taking their first lead of the game since the 1st quarter. The team went 2-5 from three-point land, out rebounded Howard 14-7 and led by as much as five points in the third quarter. After committing several turnovers, the Spiders lost control of the lead in the final two minutes in the third. Going into the fourth quarter, the team trailed 46-47, looking to make a comeback.

Heading into the fourth quarter, despite continuously knocking at Howard’s lead, the Spiders women’s basketball team was not able to complete the comeback. UR finished shooting 30.8% from the field and 16.7% from the three-point line. 

Offensively, Howard was able to take advantage of UR’s 25 turnovers. The Bison scored 17 points off turnovers while the Spiders were only able to score 11. 

On the defensive side, the Spiders outperformed the Bison, finishing with 38 defensive rebounds, 10 blocks and four steals, to Howard’s 27 defensive rebounds and five blocks. 

It was a first-year take over in Tuesday’s today's game, as first-year guard Siobhan Ryan finished the game with a double-double, with 12 points and 12 boards, and first-year forward Addie Budnik had a 13-point game in addition to recording six of UR's 10 blocks. 

Sophomore forward Elaina Chapman was another key contributor to the game, with scoring a season-high 13 points, while collecting 11 rebounds, and finishing the game with her third career double-double, according to statistics from the 2019-2020 season.  

In a postgame interview with head coach Aaron Roussell, Roussell voiced his opinion on some areas in which the team came up short in Tuesday’s game. 

“It was a disappointing one today,” he said. “They took advantage of a lot of our mistakes, you know, you have a game of over 25 turnovers, it’s something we’ve really tried to emphasize, something we’ve really tried to talk about so that’s disappointing on our end.”

Roussell also mentioned some of the positives from the game.

“I thought we did a great job boxing out, not giving them second chances, holding them to 32% shooting,” Roussell said. 

The Spiders look to erase their last two losses as the team is set to face off against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 8 in Olean, New York.

Contact sports writer Anabella Pelaez at anabella.pelaez@richmond.edu.