Women’s basketball (9-15, 2-10 A-10) fell to Richmond (21-4, 11-1 A-10) 61-83 Sunday in Richmond, Virginia.
The Revolutionaries battled against the Spiders on Dec. 30 at the Smith Center in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener where they lost in a close game by 4 points. Coming into this game, the Revs were set for a win against the second-ranked Spiders, especially after getting back in the win column versus St. Bonaventure last week.
But the Revs’ 34 percent shot efficiency caused them to unsuccessfully replicate last game’s win as the Spiders’ efficient shooting of 58.3 percent led to the blowout.
Graduate student guard Essence Brown scored 14 points and notched three steals while sophomore guard Nya Robertson scored 12 points, shooting three for five on 3-pointers. Senior guard Asjah Inniss contributed 11 points alongside three steals. Graduate student guard Nya Lok put up a solid stat of 8 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Inniss opened the scoring for the Revs with a 3-pointer with 7:55 minutes left in the first quarter after converting Spiders’ senior guard Grace Townsend’s turnover into a steal. Lok continued Inniss’ scoring debut with a 3-pointer with 6:17 minutes left in the quarter. After a scoring drought that lasted more than two minutes, Brown’s fast break in the paint cut the Spiders’ lead to 3 points. The Revs and Spiders then engaged in back and forth with each team missing a 3-pointer prior to Lok successfully sinking one with 14 seconds left.
From the jump, the Spiders took charge of the game, scoring 12 of their 16 points from the 3-point line, attempting four of five shots at the end of the first quarter. The Spiders continued to gain momentum throughout the second quarter after going on a successful 15-6 run to lead the game 40-26.
The Spiders took the largest lead of the game with 26 points in the fourth quarter with 3 minutes left until the end of the game, with the score being 81-55. The Revolutionaries were unable to maintain a lead at any point in the game.
The Revs continued to focus on shots from behind the 3-point line, shooting 29 percent from the arc. But Spiders capitalized on the long-range shots, going 13 of 19 from the three. The Spiders shot six of eight 3-pointers in the second half.
The Revs struggled to stop the Spiders’ sophomore guard Rachel Ullstrom, who scored 24 points off the bench. She shot nine of 10 shots, going 4-4 from the 3-point line. She contributed 8 points in the second and fourth quarters, helping the Spiders extend the lead to double digits in the second half and maintain their 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Revs were able to redeem 16 second-chance points compared to the Spiders’ 4 points. In addition, the Revs were 83 percent from the free-throw line and went 7-7 in the third quarter. The Spiders shot 70 percent from the line and struggled in the second quarter as they hit 5 of 9.
The Revolutionaries will head back to the Smith Center to play against La Salle (7-16, 4-8 A-10) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
