Dayton, Ohio- Second-seeded VCU earned its second consecutive trip to the Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinals following a 58-52 victory over seventh-seeded Davidson.
“We knew coming in that it was going to take 40 minutes to earn a tough win,” VCU coach Beth O’Boyle said. “They earned this. Davidson played very well and I am proud of our team effort. We got big plays and big stops in crunch time.”
All-Conference Second Team selection Danielle Hammond led VCU (19-11) with 17 points and eight rebounds. All-Conference Third Team choice Taya Robinson added 13 points and All-Conference First Teamer Tera Reed scored 10 points. VCU shot 22-for-27 (.814) from the free-throw line as a team.
VCU will either face third-seeded Fordham or sixth-seeded Duquesne in an Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinal contest at 1:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Freshman guard Suzi-Rose Deegan, also an All-Conference First Team selection led Davidson (16-15) with a game-high 19 points, while grabbing 17 rebounds. Junior Katie Turner contributed 13 points towards the Davidson cause.
“I thought our team battled for a full 40 minutes,” Davidson coach Gayle Fulks said. “I am proud of our group, here were times where they got easy looks and got on runs we had troubles adjusting to. We came up short, but we’ve accomplished a lot this year through a lot of adversity.
Davidson got off to a strong start opening up to a 7-2 lead as the Wildcats turned VCU over three times and the Rams went 1-for-5 from the field.
Davidson’s reserves saw extended court minutes as a result of some early foul trouble and were able to keep the Wildcats in the game. Chloe Welch’s three-point shot tied the game just prior to halftime, but Robinson responded to keep VCU in front by two points as the first half expired.
In the third quarter, Davidson was able to open the third quarter on a 10-4 run as Deegan scored six points during this stretch.
VCU would get right back into the contest making free throws as well as some contributions from Reed, who missed the final two regular season games.
"We've been that team all year long where you can see the number of injures and it's been tough adversity," said O'Boyle. "How are we going to grow from it and what does it allow for us to learn about ourselves? Everybody is growing in different ways and you are learning how to play no matter who is out on the court."
Up four entering the fourth quarter, Reed picked up where she left off, driving the lane and earning a basket despite being fouled.
The Rams led by as many as nine points, but Davidson chipped away at the lead once again and an off-glass shot from senior forward Ally Welling, made the contest one possession once again.
As the game drew closer to its conclusion, Deegan made a mid-range jumper to give Davidson its first lead since :56 remained in the first quarter.
Following a VCU timeout, the Rams worked the ball inside and found Robinson, whose jump shot allowed them to reclaim the lead.
Davidson had multiple opportunities to take the lead, but missed three separate shots and Robinson sank two free throws for VCU on the other end. From there VCU was able to sink free throws to close the game.