HENRICO, Va. -- Richmond led wire-to-wire concluding the 2026 Betterment Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals with a 70-51 win over La Salle Friday night at the Henrico Sports & Events Center.
Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan led Richmond with her 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. All-Conference Second Team selection Ally Sweeney concluded play with 12 points and six rebounds. Tierra Simon came away with 11 points and Rayne Wright 10.
"Hats off to La Salle and Mountain what he has done with this group," Richmond coach Aaron Roussell said. "This league is really getting better. There was a balanced effort and our defense set the tone in the first half. I thought we managed the boards really well, that was a point of emphasis. I thought it was important today to get our young kids some experience early and I think they did a good job, so we just rolled with that. The way that the team played and the energy that we played with had was great for tonight and bodes well for the future as well."
Despite 15 turnovers, Richmond held La Salle to seven fastbreak points and shot 80% from the free throw line.
The Spiders shot 43.9% from the field and won the points in the paint battle 40-30, while forcing 19 turnovers. Richmond's bench also decisively scored La Salle 34-2.
La Salle saw All-Conference Second Team selection Aryss Macktoon earn her second consecutive double-double in championship play, with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Another second teamer in Ashleigh Connor led all scorers with 18 points, while Joan Quinn chimed in with 12 points.
"I've held the position that Richmond is the best team in the conference all season long and they showed that tonight," La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray explained. "We would've liked a better showing the first half and put some game pressure on them, but really pleased and proud of what these young ladies have showed this season to this point, we hope it's recognized and hope to keep playing. Returning your entire backcourt from a season before, having that experience that's why we're in the position that we were in this year to compete in these games. We didn't have a good shooting night, so it didn't happen for us tonight, but we're not letting that diminish where we got to this year and what we want to keep doing."
Richmond contained La Salle early and often in the first half. It took the Explorers 5:19 to convert from the field. During this time the Spiders went on a 12-1 run. Four different Richmond players scored during this opening challenge.
Macktoon provided the beginning of La Salle's answer as the Explorers would respond with an 8-2 run and trail 18-12 heading into the second quarter.
Richmond greeted the second quarter by scoring the first five points. Doogan would prove to be a major factor in the frame as she scored 11 points.
The Spiders won the second quarter 23-9 shooting at a 58.3% clip.
A 10-2 Richmond run concluded the quarter. It included a Simon three-point shot and ended with an exclamation point as Wright would grab an offensive rebound and convert a layup.
This placed Richmond in front 41-21 at halftime.
"I thought we didn't respond well to it until the second half," MacGillivray said of Richmond's defense. "We put ourselves in a pretty deep hole. It's also a credit to them, they're really good at applying pressure on the ball. I don't want to overstate it, but it makes them different than team's they've had in the past. To be able to defend at a level that makes it hard for the other team to initiate offense is not what I think Richmond is known for, but it's what they've become now. That's problematic."
La Salle scored the first seven points to kick off the third quarter, as the Spiders were held scoreless for the first 4:14.
When Doogan converted a jump shot, Richmond spent a timeout to gather. It was rewarded by a corner three-point field goal from Ava Persichetti.
"I thought maybe we needed a timeout a couple of possessions earlier if I am being quite honest," revealed Roussell. "Maybe as a coach you are kind of trying to let it go a little bit and see how we did. I also felt we were going to call a timeout during the possession (we scored), but liked what we saw. That's one where you give this possession a chance. There was a long stretch for one thing, but we needed to gather when things were positive. It allowed us to change up our defense a little bit and maybe change some matchups too."
La Salle would win the quarter by two, but Richmond found its way back into a flow and led 53-35 heading into the final quarter.
Doogan did not play in the fourth quarter as Roussell opted to play some of his younger players and those on the floor held La Salle to a 33.3% shooting percentage.
"We know that George Mason is coming in and that's going to be a really big one tomorrow, so as much as we can get them used to the crowd and the excitement around A-10 tournament is special," offered Doogan. "We're all super close on this team and we're all getting to see our friends go out there who don't usually see the floor a lot, which is super fun."
Richmond advances to the second of two semifinal games, where it will face a rubber match with George Mason, who earlier in the day won an overtime thriller. Both sides won in its home gym.