Career night for Doogan propels Spiders over Saint Joseph’s

The University of Richmond women’s basketball team defeated Saint Joseph’s University 94-90 on Jan. 29. 

It was an eventful afternoon in the Robins Center as the Spiders notched their third conference win of the season. 

UR celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day and wore pink jerseys in honor of their Play4Kay game, dedicated to raising money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. 

The Bollywood Jhatkas, UR’s South Asian fusion dance club, performed during halftime. 

As for the game itself, the two teams’ play started out evenly matched. 

UR began the game on a 5-0 run, and defensively, the Spiders kept the Hawks scoreless for the first 2:50 of the first quarter. 

However, Saint Joseph’s tied the game up 5-5 and began what ended up being a back-and-forth game as the lead changed 12 times. 

After the first quarter, the Hawks had a slight edge as Saint Joseph’s led 15-13.

In the second quarter, the Spiders made six 3-pointers and shot 75% from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Sydney Boone made three 3-pointers in the quarter, including one that beat the shot clock buzzer. 

At halftime, the Spiders took a 36-34 lead after first-year forward Maggie Doogan hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the first half. 

The Spiders shot 60% from the field coming out of halftime and had a 10-point lead with 55 seconds to go in the third quarter. 

However, as the third quarter came to a close, the Hawks cut the Spiders’ lead to six at 59-53. 

In the fourth quarter, neither team was able to take full control of the game. 

The Spiders led 70-62 with 4:26 left to go in regulation, but the Hawks kept it close and sent the game into overtime. 

Early into the overtime period, the Hawks had a four-point lead, but with 2:51 to go, the Spiders led by four points. The Hawks did not lead for the rest of the game. 

In the final 17 seconds of overtime, junior guard Grace Townsend went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line which allowed the Spiders to emerge victorious. 

“Rousell always tells me ‘you’re gonna make ‘em,’” Townsend said about her coach in the postgame press conference. “He has faith in me. I just had faith in myself and practicing the free throws. Took my time on ‘em, took a deep breath and they went in.”

On the day, the Spiders shot 58.3% from 3-point range and six players scored in double figures. 

“I think there was a little bit there that we needed some kids to step up and they did that,” UR head coach Aaron Roussell said after the game. “You knew it was going to come down to the end and obviously it did.”

Townsend and junior guard Siobhan Ryan each scored 14 points. Boone and junior forward Addie Budnik each scored 11 points. Sophomore guard Katie Hill added 10 points. 

Doogan had a career-high 28 points. This was her fourth straight game in double-figures and only her third start of the season. 

“I mean, she just completely balled out today,” Roussell said. “And I think that was just putting her in some good spots or putting her in spots to kind of let her go to work, as we said. I thought she was fantastic at that.”

With this win, UR improves to 13-7 on the season and 3-4 in conference play. 

UR’s next game is at the University of Massachusetts at 7 p.m. Feb. 1. 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu