HENRICO, Va. -- The top-seeded Richmond Spiders secured a repeat trip to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals following a 70-54 victory over Loyola Chicago Thursday afternoon. Richmond moves to 27-5 on the season with the win.
“I’m incredibly proud of the way we played today,” A-10 Coach of the Year Aaron Roussell stated. “I thought the start of the game was important but something we’ve been pushing towards all season. Everything we have done to this point has been tactical for anything that could be thrown your way. I saw how I thought this game was going to start, but you just never know. I had 110-percent faith in our kids that we were going to start that way. To see it come out that way and have the crowd as juiced up as they were, I was ready to go out there. I was encouraged that they took advantage of that and sustained it through the game.”
Richmond was led by All-Conference Second Team selection Addie Budnik’s 18 points on a 5-for-7 performance from the field. The A-10 Defensive Player of the Year recorded another two blocks bringing her up to 77 this season, top-10 nationally.
All-Conference First Teamer Maggie Doogan battled foul trouble but finished play with 13 points. Another first team selection, Grace Townsend, had a balanced game consisting of eight points and her nine assists matched a season high, while Katie Hill chipped in with her 10 points.
The Spiders also recorded 20 assists on 25 made baskets, won the paint by a 30-22 count and saw eight different players score a basket.
Loyola Chicago saw third team selection Sam Galanopoulos a game-high 22 points in her final contest. Alyssa Fisher completed play with 17 points.
“I want to congratulate Richmond, they were very well deserving of this,” Loyola Chicago coach Allison Guth stated. “We’re hoping there’s an opportunity for us to play in the postseason, but we were really wanting to make our march through the A-10 tourney and that’s how the culture of this program is focused. It’s about winning and advancing. We went from winning one game in this league to earning a bye in the first round and winning a game to get into the quarterfinals. They’re not satisfied with it, I’m not satisfied with it but we respect our opponent, know how quality they were and know the things we had in our control to do better in this game.”
It was a fast start for Richmond as they compiled 12 points in the opening 3:04 of game action. The Spiders had assists on all five baskets and after the run reached 10-0 Loyola Chicago spent a timeout.
“Having the crowd was a huge energizer for us,” revealed Budnik. “Just one through 15 it was huge; everyone was playing for each other. We know how big all these games are, and it’s really about who plays harder that day. Every team is talented and that helped and propelled us to have the first quarter we did and ultimately carry over to the rest of the game.”
Not only was Richmond prolific on the offensive end early on, but it grew the lead without missing a shot from the field. The run was only more emphatic as the Henrico Sports & Events Center was filled with plenty of enthusiastic children from across the area.
It took the Ramblers 4:45 to make a field goal, which occurred when Galanopoulos took a Sitori Tanin pass and turned it into three points. Loyola Chicago would be held to a 13.3% mark from the field, whereas Richmond excelled at a 64.3% rate.
This effectiveness allowed the Spiders to take a 20-9 lead into the second quarter.
A 9-0 Spiders run midway through the period allowed for the lead to reach 22 points with just over a minute remaining in the first half. It would be 43-22 at halftime.
Richmond’s effectiveness at sharing the ball continued to be on display as evidenced by 12 assists on 14 made baskets in the first half and limiting its miscues to a single turnover which Loyola Chicago was unable to turn into points.
“Coach always talks about when the ball is moving, it has energy, it’s like a sixth person on the floor,” revealed Budnik. “We thought the ball was moving, we were playing for each other, and no one really cared who was getting the shot, we were all excited for one another and that’s when we play our best basketball.”
Past the midway point of the third quarter, Budnik sank a three-point basket but after that the Spiders were held without a basket for a 4:29 which stretched into the fourth quarter. As a result, the Ramblers buried a couple of baskets, chipping away to a 54-34 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
An 8-0 Loyola Chicago run in the fourth quarter, brought it to within 14 points, but it would not draw any closer.
The Spiders took advantage of the early lead it had built by using 11 players in the first half and rotating them in down the stretch.
“I thought everybody came in and took advantage of those opportunities,” concluded Roussell.
Richmond has secured the first of four spots in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals where it will await the winner of the George Mason/Duquesne contest.