It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Unfortunately for the Virginia women's basketball team (3-2), the opening sentence of "A Tale of Two Cities" can be applied to its 66-57 loss to Richmond (3-0) Saturday night. The Cavaliers dominated the first half, but struggled in the second. The win marks only the second time the Spiders have gotten the best of Virginia in school history.
"Coming here to Virginia, which is a pretty well respected team in the ACC, and winning is a pretty big deal in my senior year," said Kate Flavin, Richmond's senior forward and leading scorer. Flavin is the only Richmond player to be on the roster both times the Spiders defeated the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers opened the game by playing well on offense and holding Richmond at bay. Virginia shot 40.9 percent from the field in the first half en route to building 25-18 lead. Guards Brenna McGuire and LaTonya Blue led the Cavaliers with six points each in the first half. All of McGuire's points came off shots from behind the three-point line. The Spiders, on the other hand, had only two players -- forward Christina Campion and guard DeUnna Hendrix -- score more than one basket.
In the second half, forward Brandi Teamer scored the first nine points for Virginia to keep the Cavaliers ahead of Richmond. The Spiders also came out of the break furious, hitting their first seven field goals of the half.
"We came out in the second half keyed in offensively, but not defensively," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "The lack of defensive flow hurt our offensive flow."
Teamer was subbed out of the game about four minutes into the half, and the Spiders began the first of three second-half scoring runs. Richmond went on a 12-point run that yielded a four-point lead.
The Spiders took their first lead of the second half after a Campion jumper made the score 35-34.
The Spiders soon began a second run, this one for 10 points before McGuire hit two free throws to stop the bleeding. A big part of Richmond's turnaround was Flavin, who had all 18 of her points in the second half.
The Cavaliers kept the game close and came within one basket, 54-52, thanks to some reinvigorated defensive play. With the score 48-42, Blue stole the ball and ran down the court for an easy layup. On the next play, freshman point guard Sharnee Zoll stole the ball and passed it to Blue for another easy layup. The Cavaliers later surged to within two points following a pair of free throws by Blue.
"I don't look at it as just me," Blue said. "Everyone was playing defense, I just happened to get the ball."
Despite Virginia making it close, the Spiders pulled away with their third scoring run of the half to pull 10 points ahead of the Cavaliers, 62-52. Richmond took advantage of several trips to the free-throw line as the Cavaliers struggled, not scoring for nearly three minutes after Blue's free throws brought them within a basket.
"It's hard anytime you let one slip away," Blue said. "It was just fundamental mistakes like fouls that let this one go."
RICHMOND (3-0)
Flavin 6-10 6-8 18, Campion 7-8 2-3 16, Chapman 3-11 2-2 8, Gil 2-4 3-4 7, Hendrix 6-9 2-2 14, McKnight 0-4 1-2 1, Miranovic 0-2 0-0 0, Roche 0-0 0-0 0, Grabias 0-1 0-0 0, Mazic 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 24-52 18-23 66.
VIRGINIA (3-2)
Blue 4-13 6-7 15, Logan-Friend 1-3 5-6 7, Teamer 7-14 2-3 16, Zoll 0-4 0-0 0, McGuire 2-8 2-2 8, Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Kenion 0-1 0-0 0, Granberry 0-0 0-0 0, Sardin 2-3 0-0 4, Kreager 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 19-54 16-20 57.
Halftime-Virginia 25-18. 3-Point goals-Richmond 0-6 (Chapman 0-5, Miranovice 0-1), Virginia 3-15 (McGuire 2-7, Blue 1-4, Teamer 0-2 Zoll 0-2). Fouled out- Richmond
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