By Kyle Soppe
Road win. Check. “Be ready” from the opening tip. Check. Beat a team that has dominated the Spiders, winning 23 of 28 games. Check.
Miah Register opened the Richmond scoring with a layup only 11 seconds into the game. Two free throws drew ODU even, but that was as close as they would get this afternoon.
Up 17-2 at the 17:26 mark, the Spiders showed no ill effects from playing a second game in three days. Rachel Bilney scored seven points during the early spurt, her hot hand had yet to cool off from a career night against William and Mary.
In search of their first win, Old Dominion would not back down, despite the torrid Spider start. The Lady Monarchs methodically attacked the aggressive Richmond defense, and found themselves back in the game by the half time intermission due in large part to a +8 advantage from the line. With a 12-3 run going into the half, ODU seemed to have the momentum, despite trailing 36-30.
But the second half started in similar fashion, with the Spiders racing out to a fast start. Paced by six quick points from Gen Okoro and concluded by a three point play by Register, Richmond regained control of the game, with a 53-35 lead.
The Spiders made sure that this lead did not evaporate in the same fashion as their early advantage, never allowing ODU to climb closer than 14 points. Richmond received 13 second half points from Abby Oliver, including the seniors 1,000th collegiate point. The Spiders sensational scoring trio (Okoro, Bilney and Oliver) combined for 46 points, with all three members recording double digit point totals yet again. Becca Wann and Keri Soppe each contributed a season high of six points, connecting on five of six field goal attempts combined.
Coach Michael Schafer acknowledged that a perfect start does not mean a flawless team. His Spiders turned the ball over 22 times and committed 26 fouls on Sunday. The optimistic coach hinted that he was proud of his team for overcoming challenges, but that he would rather not deal with such self inflicted wounds. Perfect? No. But four wins in four games is as good as it gets.
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