Spiders surge past Bonnies in senior night season finale

The University of Richmond women’s basketball team defeated Saint Bonaventure University 87-45 in their final regular season game on Feb. 25. 

As it was senior night in the Robins Center, the Spiders celebrated their seniors, guard Angel Burgos and graduate forward Emilija Krista Grava. Forward Elaina Chapman was also recognized but was unable to attend the game. 

“I just thought [Burgos and Krista Grava] really led the charge,” UR head coach Aaron Roussell said in a postgame press conference. “And our juniors, everybody else just kind of followed along with that. But you could really tell tonight that they really wanted a special night for them.”

UR began the game with a 10-2 run, holding the Bonnies scoreless until the 7:45 mark in the first quarter. The Spiders drew fouls in the paint and went to the line seven times in the quarter. The first point of the game came from free throw range as Krista Grava made one of two at the line. 

Through one quarter, UR led 21-10. 

It was in the second quarter when the Spiders began to pull away from St. Bonaventure. 

On the defensive side of the ball, the Spiders held the Bonnies to five points in the quarter, while the Bonnies shot 7.7% from the field. The Spiders, on the other hand, scored 17 points and led 38-16 at the half. 

In the third quarter, the Spiders put on a shooting clinic as they shot 81.3% from the field and hit seven of nine 3-pointers in the quarter on 77.8% shooting from the arc. 

The Spiders outscored the Bonnies 33-13 in the quarter. A block from sophomore guard Sydney Boone to end the quarter served as an exclamation point on top of the Spiders’ dominant effort up to that point. UR led 71-29 heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation. 

With 8:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Spiders led by as many as 48 points. They finished the game ahead by 42, 87-45. 

After a win away against rivals Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 22, the Spiders fared similarly against the Bonnies to end their regular season with two straight victories. 

“We’ve said all along here, right, that things weren’t great about seven weeks ago,” Roussell said. “But we just said we wanted this to build, we wanted to be playing really well right now. Let the seed fall where it may, let the record fall where it may, let’s just be playing really well heading into March and I’m really happy with how we’re playing right now.”

On the day, five Spiders scored in double figures. Junior forward Addie Budnik led the way with 18 points, scoring her 1,000th career point for the Spiders and becoming the 27th UR women’s basketball player to do so. 

“It’s pretty cool,” Budnik said in a postgame press conference. “Everyone was super supportive. I think the word got around a little bit on the bench so everyone kind of knew and everyone had my back and it was just a really cool experience.”

Also on the scoring front, first-year guard Rachel Ullstrom scored 13 points, junior guard Siobhan Ryan scored 11 points and sophomore guard Katie Hill and Boone chipped in 10 points, all off the bench. The Spiders totaled 46 bench points. 

This win gives UR a final regular season record of 18-9 and an 8-6 conference record. 

As this was the Spiders’ regular season finale, the team will next head to the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, DE to compete in the Atlantic 10 tournament which begins Mar. 1. 

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