Winter Break Sports Recap | Dec. 17 2021 to Jan. 5 2022

Men’s Basketball

Dec. 17: Win 83-74 over North Carolina State.

The University of Richmond men’s basketball team defeated the North Carolina State Wolfpack in Charlotte at Spectrum Center with a score of 83-74. The Spiders shot a season record of 46 points from within the paint with graduate student forward Grant Golden, junior forward Tyler Burton and graduate student forward Nathan Cayo scoring a combined 49 points. Golden was named MVP of the game, leading the Spiders with 19 points. Cayo shot for 14 points within the first 20 minutes of the game and graduate student guard Jacob Gilyard scored eight of the nine final points of the game with a layup and multiple free throws. Golden’s points increased his career total to 1,913 gaining him the fourth place for career points in UR history. 

Dec. 19: Win 67-61 against Old Dominion University.

The Richmond Spiders defeated the ODU Monarchs for their fifth straight win with a close final score of 67-61 at the Spider’s home, the Robins Center. Burton had a game-high of 29 points. Golden and Cayo scored 15 and 11 points, respectively. Both teams faced difficulty with field goals as Richmond shot for 40% and Old Dominion shot for 34%. The Monarchs were able to out-rebound the Spiders 44-31 and grab 20 rebounds while on offense, allowing for 26 second-chance points. The Spiders found themselves at the free-throw line 33 times and went 27-33 for free throws, setting a record since hitting 31 in 2015 against the University of California. Burton’s 29 points were one point shy of beating his career-high of 30. He also secured a season-high of 10 rebounds, and Cayo finished the game with six rebounds along with his 11 points. Golden secured himself the fourth spot for UR's rebound record list with 860 rebounds. 

Dec. 22: Win 81-50 against Bucknell University. 

The University of Richmond Spiders defeated the Bucknell University Bisons at Robins Stadium 81-50, which marked the Spider’s sixth straight victory before heading into the winter break. Richmond faced a tough first half, only leading by nine points before entering halftime and shooting for a final 53%. Graduate student guard Nick Sherod faced a rough night going zero for six with three-pointers. The Spiders were in total zero for 11 with three-pointers until Sherod broke the streak of bad luck with a three during the second half. The Spiders would go on to make the next five three-pointer attempts and Sherod would add four more himself. Golden led the Spiders with 22 points and 10 rebounds, with Sherod and Burton both ending with 15 points. Gilyard matched his career-high with 11 assists and tallied up five of the team’s 14 steals, gaining him the title of the first player in NCAA Division 1 history to reach 400 career steals with 402 total steals. 

Dec. 30: Loss against Saint Joseph’s 56-83. 

The Richmond Spiders lost against Saint Joseph’s University at the Robins Center in the Atlantic-10 opener, ending the Spiders' win streak. The Hawks went 31-60 for field goals at 52%, while the Spiders shot 20-72 at 28%. This was the Spiders' lowest field goal percentage since March of 2014. Golden led the Spiders with 14 points, which were all in the first half, but had seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Burton was close behind with 11 points and six rebounds. UR did outshoot the Hawks in free throws with Richmond shooting 83% and SJU only 68%, and out-stole the Hawks with nine steals compared to their two steals. 

Jan. 2: Loss against Saint Louis University 69-76. 

The men’s basketball team started out the year on a bad note with a defeat by Saint Louis University at Chaifetz Arena 69-76. Burton led the Spiders with 24 points and 12 rebounds. He was the first Spider to post similar game totals since T.J. Cline with 26 points and 13 rebounds in 2017. Golden secured his 18th career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Cayo added another 11 rebounds matching his career-high. Richmond outrebounded Saint Louis with 46-36. The Spiders struggled with shooting from the field, shooting 37% and going 24-65 in field goals and 30% going 6-20 with three-pointers. 

Jan. 5: Win 80-72 against University of Massachusetts.

The Spiders defeated the U. Mass Minutemen 80-72 after coming off a two-game losing streak. Gilyard led the Spiders with 17 points and 10 assists with Cayo close behind with 14 points. Sherod and Burton scored 12 points each and Burton led the team in rebounds with 13 out of 33 total. UR had 46 points in the paint, shooting a total field goal percentage of 53% while shooting 65% in the first half. Golden finished the win with seven points and five rebounds, including three assists. Golden hit his 140th career game, breaking a tie with Kevin Anderson for most appearances in Richmond basketball history. 

Women’s Basketball

Dec. 19: Win 81-63 over Florida Atlantic University.

The Richmond women’s basketball team faced off against the FAU Owls for the first game of the Florida Atlantic University Pre-Christmas Tournament with a final score of 81-63. At the end of the first half, Richmond was down by nine points with a score of 26-35, but the Spiders were quick to respond in the second half with 55 points and a 66% shooting from the field. Senior forward Emma Squires tied her career record with 28 points. Squires also had a career-high of six three-pointers. Senior guard Katie Klimkiewicz was runner-up with 13 points and sophomore forward Addie Budnik was close behind with 11. Klimkiewicz went three-for-three and scored Richmond their first six points of the game, including a steal-turned layup against the Owls. Squires cleaned up the third quarter of the game with 12 points. Squires entered the fourth quarter with a triple and added another three, gaining Richmond a 62-53 lead. 

Dec. 20: Win 87-75 over Southern Mississippi University.

The University of Richmond women’s basketball team defeated the SMU Golden Eagles in the FAU Pre-Christmas Tournament. The Spiders started off strong with a 20-0 shutout in the first quarter and ended the game with an 87-75 score. Sophomore guard Siobhan Ryan led the Spiders with a career-high 25 points and was accompanied by two more double-figure scorers, sophomore guard Grace Townsend with 19 and Squires with 18. Budnik led the Spiders with a game-high of seven rebounds. In the first quarter, Townsend initiated a 20-0 run, and both Townsend and Squires capped off the runs with and-ones. In the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles were quick to close the gap into single digits, but a three-pointer from Klimkiewicz would bridge that gap back. With 2:17 left in the fourth quarter, Townsend closed the game with an additional layup, sealing a win for the Spiders. 

Dec. 29: Win 90-50 against Coppin State University. 

The University of Richmond women's basketball added their fifth straight win after defeating Coppin State University at Robins Stadium with a final score of 90-50. This was the Spiders' second time this season of defeating another team by 40 or more points. In the first quarter, Richmond was faced with a 7-7 tie which Squires broke with a three-pointer combined with Budnik’s and-one securing a 13-7 lead. Klimkiewicz led the Spiders with 15 points, followed by Budnik with 12 points. Richmond also gained a season-high record of 58 rebounds with Coppin securing only 30. Freshman guard Katie Hill, who scored 10 points, had her first career double-digit scoring game. The Spiders shot a 46% field goal success rate with 44 points in the paint, and a 73% for free throws going four-for-four in the fourth quarter. 

Jan. 1: Win 82-76 over Duquesne University. 

The University of Richmond women’s basketball team opened the Atlantic 10 season defeating Duquesne University at Robins Stadium for their sixth consecutive win. The Richmond Spiders led 37-25 in the first half, with Klimkiewicz opening the first minute with a layup and a three, scoring five of her 20 game points. Klimkiewicz was the highest-scoring player of the game and was one of four Spiders hitting double digits, including Squires with 16, Townsend with 14 and Budnik with 14. Budnik led the game in rebounds with seven alongside three blocks and two steals. The Spiders shot for 51% of successful field goals, while Duquesne was close behind shooting for 42%. The Dukes led in free throws, going 22-27 at 81%, and the Spiders shooting 19-26 at 73%. 

Jan. 5: Win 66-63 against George Washington University.

The Spiders secured their seventh straight win against the George Washington University Colonials with a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Klimkiewicz, breaking the tie and securing the win. Klimkiewicz’s three tied her season-high 20 points and had the team-high eight rebounds. Townsend was the second-leading scorer for the Spiders with 14 points and four assists. Budnik and Ryan were close behind with their respective 11 and 10 points. Hill had a career-high three steals, which were all in the span of just under a minute and a half in the third quarter. The Spiders outshot the Colonials with a 50% field goal rate compared to GWU’s 41%, both teams shooting 28 points in the paint. Richmond also had only eight turnovers compared to GWU’s 16. 

Contact sports co-editor Andrew Cardounel at andrew.cardounel@richmond.edu.