By Kyle Soppe
The youngest team in the Atlantic 10 opened 2011 with a confidence building 56-39 win at Navy. Starting the season with a W is nothing new for head coach Michael Shafer, who has now won six of his seven openers at Richmond. Red Shirt Junior Rachel Bilney led the balanced scoring attack with 12 points, with Genevieve Okoro and Abby Oliver adding 10 points apiece. Starting point guard Miah Register had an impressive debut, scoring seven points in 24 minutes of action.
The first half was as even as it gets, with seven first half lead changes. Navy held the biggest lead over the first 20 minutes when a layup put them up 18-14 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Becca Wann started a mini rally with a layup, and Richmond took the lead going into the locker rooms: 26-24. Both teams shot an identical 37% from the field, and this had the makings of a game that wouldn’t be decided until late. The Spiders, however, had different plans.
Richmond roared out of the intermission with an 18-5 run to put the game out of reach. “Their athleticism wore us down. They played the passing lines very well, and out rebounded us” stated Navy Head Coach Stefanie Pemper. Junior Ryann Dannelly (8 rebounds) led the Spiders to a 45-25 advantage on the glass. The Midshipmen were held without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the second half, and couldn’t recover. Richmond’s lead swelled to as much 21 after a three point play by freshmen Keri Soppe, and allowed Shafer to have eleven players enter the game. All five of his freshmen made their debuts against the reigning Patriot League Champions.
The Spiders will travel back home tonight and face William and Mary on Monday, while Navy begins a three game road trip when they travel to Loyola.
Great game out of the spiders, lot of depth especially at the point guard position. That kid that came off the bench? Spectacular.
Way to go Keri, itown is PROUD!!!!! Kyle, great article.
Thanks Mrs. McGullicuddy!
This was a great way to open the season. I know we are pulling for Keri, but this looked like an athletic team that has potential to do much better than 8th in the A-10. My Coaching Sports professor always tells us: “Give me tall athletes and we can figure the rest out as we go”. And when I watched the game last night that’s exactly what I saw. This team won’t be a pushover by any stretch, and as their freshmen get acquainted to the speed of D1 hoops they will improve every game.