By Kyle Soppe
The term “silent assassin” comes to mind while watching Abby Oliver systematically pick apart opposing defenses. She doesn’t like the attention of the bright lights and is generally a leader by example, as opposed to leading by force. The senior guard from Roanoke, Virginia has posted a solid four year career at Richmond, and this past week was symbolic of her time spent in the Spiders organization.
On Monday night, Oliver poured in a then season high 19 points in a 77-57 win over William and Mary. She connected on 8 of 15 field goal attempts, including three for five from beyond the arc. She led a Spiders attack that featured four other double digit point scorers. She is the player opposing teams know, which resulted in open looks for her teammates throughout.
Her willingness to adapt on the fly was never more apparent than on Friday Night against Boston University. Despite being only nine points short of the 1,000 plateau, Oliver took on a facilitator’s role. She wasn’t concerned about the statistical milestone; she just wanted to leave the Robins Center with more points than BU. She handed out a career high six assists and lead Richmond offense that was without its top two point guards (foul trouble/illness). Richmond pulled away in the second half, winning 72-60.
Last night, Oliver became the 18th member of the Richmond Women’s 1,000 point club. She reached 1k with a driving layup 13 minutes into the first half. Unfortunately for Old Dominion, Oliver wasn’t satisfied, and went on to pour in a season high 22 points. She added seven rebounds and a team high four steals in the 78-63 win.
Honorable Mention: Jessica Jenkins – lead St. Bonaventure to a 3-0 mark this past week while playing 100 minutes and only committing one turnover. She also eclipsed the 1,000 point mark and buried nine total three pointers in three games this week.
Nominate your top performer for the week. It was a full week of hoops, let’s hear what you’ve got!
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