Women's Basketball Falls To Richmond, 73-62, In Non-Conference Action

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Richmond, Va. – Johanna McKnight scored 23 points, including four shots from 3-point range to lead Richmond to a 73-62 win over UAlbany in non-conference women’s basketball action at the Robins Center on Wednesday afternoon.

UAlbany jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to start the game, but Richmond scored eight straight points behind two 3-pointers by McKnight and Brittani Shells to take an 8-4 lead at 16:06. Britney McGee dropped a trey of her own at 15:40 to pull the Great Danes back within one, but McKnight hit her second shot from behind the arc at 15:18 to give the Spiders an 11-7 advantage at 14:15.

The Great Danes battled back, pulling within one, 15-14, at 11:37 as Gia Sanders, who hit a jumper on the previous possession, blocked a Richmond shot and gathered the rebound, dishing the ball off to McGee on the fast break. McGee, who would finish 5-7 from behind the arc, drained a trey at 10:52 to give the Great Danes a 17-15 lead.

Richmond took a 20-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Shells at 9:29, but UAlbany would score on back-to-back possessions to take a 23-22 advantage with 7:00 left to play. The teams would exchange baskets for the remainder of the period, as both teams would shoot 48 percent from the floor in the half. Richmond’s Kara Powell converted a conventional 3-point play with 1.4 seconds left to give the Spiders a 35-34 lead heading into the halftime break.

Richmond scored the first points of the second half courtesy of a jumper and free throw from forward Christina Campion, taking a 38-34 lead with 19:27 on the clock. After the Spiders took a 41-38 advantage with 17:38 remaining, UAlbany would score four unanswered points to take a 42-41 lead, but Crystal Goring would respond for Richmond, putting the Spiders back in front by one with 15:00 to play.

McKnight and Danielle Bell dropped back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Richmond’s lead to 49-42 with 12:55 left. The Spiders would continue to build upon that lead, taking a 55-42 advantage before McGee would break UAlbany’s scoring drought with a three of her own at 10:33. The Great Danes would get baskets from TaNika Thrower and Sanders to pull within 55-49 with 9:08 remaining.

Richmond would then embark on an 11-0 run, holding the Great Danes scoreless for almost five minutes before Sherri Mikus hit a jumper in the lane to cut the Spiders’ lead to 66-51 at 4:14. UAlbany would outscore the Spiders 8-3 over the next two minutes to pull within 10, 69-59, before Shells hit two free throws to put Richmond back up 12 with under 30 seconds left to play. McGee and Janea Aiken dropped 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to nine with 28 ticks on the clock. However, the Spiders, who went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute of play, got two more points from McKnight from the line at 14.4 to set the final deficit.

“We played 20 minutes of excellent basketball,” said Great Danes head coach Trina Patterson. “We executed well, shot well, and we had excellent post play. This was a very good Richmond team. The effort was there on our part, we just didn't play for 40 minutes. Our long term goal is still conference play.”

McGee tied her career-high in points, scoring 19. Sanders and Kristin Higy each posted double-doubles in the defeat for UAlbany. Sanders tallied 13 points and added 12 rebounds, while Higy scored 10 points to accompany a game-high 15 boards.

McKnight scored a game-high 23 points for the Spiders to go along with six steals. Campion finished with 10 points and Shells had 14 to round out the double-digit scorers.

The Great Danes will return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 22 when they host Marist at 2 p.m. at SEFCU Arena.