By Kyle Soppe
The Richmond Spiders are a team on the rise, but are not yet the Queens of Virginia. An emotionally draining week, where UR won at rival VCU and then promptly lost two players (Miah Registar and Leah Johnson) due to personal reasons, came to a disappointing end as the Spiders fell 69-56 to the Cavaliers.
Ariana Moorer, the reigning sixth women of the year for the ACC, established herself early and often. On her first field goal attempt of the afternoon, she swished a corner three pointer, a shot that proved to be a confidence builder. While Moorer isn’t a pure shooter, her 1/13 start to the season from beyond the arc is deceiving. Richmond’s leading scorer, Abby Oliver, would match Moorer in the early going, keeping her team competitive. Two deep threes from AO were offset by two bombs from Moorer, as both teams struggled to gain any breathing room.
Oliver also stepped into a distributor’s role, as she dished out three helpers in the first 20 minutes. Her final assist of the half set up Gen Okoro for an uncontested layup, trimming the deficit to 20-19.
For basketball purists, the best play of the afternoon gave Virginia a 26-22 advantage. Chelsea Smith established ideal post position, passed back and forth with Moorer on the wing, before feeling her defender leaning heavy on her right side. A lightning quick – right to left – spin move opened the 6’2″ forward for a wide open lay in. The four point advantage was maintained until the half wound down. Six straight from Oliver was again offset by the play making of Moorer, and the Cavaliers took a 39-34 lead into the locker rooms.
In addition to AO’s 14 points, Becca Wann dropped in five points in limited time. Moorer matched Oliver, but the physical presence of the Virginia bigs was the difference. They were able to contain Okoro, and allowed their 1-2-2 press to frustrate the young Spiders back court.
The second half looked eerily similar to the first half: Richmond relying on the three ball, while the Cavaliers continued to systematically pick apart the Spiders defense to get high percentage shots. Another Oliver shot from distance kept Richmond close, but the old cliche would prove accurate: “one who lives by the three, dies by the three”.
As the game progressed, it was clear that UV valued each possession a bit more. Moorer continued to battle inside, and her athleticism could not be matched. Following a sweet hook shot from Lexie Gersen, Moorer scrapped and clawed her way to an offensive rebound, leading to free throws. The play was indicative of her continued tenacity, a trait that carried Virginia. Shortly thereafter, the 5’7″ guard skied for a defensive board, took the ball coast to coast, and ballooned the lead to 12 points.
The Spiders, however, would not go quietly in front of their home crowd. Trailing 55-40, they need a run, and needed it now. Rachel Bilney drove baseline for a deuce and Liz Brown followed with a smooth corner jumper. The Richmond defense seemed to feed off of the success at the offensive end, and continued to make stops. Okoro added two points in the paint and Bilney continued the streak with another mid range jumper. Oliver’s 21st point of the afternoon narrowed the gap to five, with just over three minutes to play.
The Cavs took the Spiders best punch, and responded like the elite team they are. On the heels of the 10-0 run, Ataira Franklin stepped up when her teammates needed her most. Six of her 10 points came in the form of consecutive three pointers, once again giving UV a double digit lead. The only difference from earlier in the half was the fact that the Spiders simply didn’t have enough time to recover from this one.
Abby Oliver once again led the Spiders attack and recorded 23 points in Sunday’s 69-56 loss. Ariana Moorer led the way for Virginia with 17 points, her seventh consecutive game in double figures. Head Coach Michael Shafer was proud of the effort his team gave, but was obviously disappointed with the end result. “We battled. The full court press definitely affected us. But we battled”. Richmond (6-2) will have the next five days off for final exams, and retake the court when UNC Greensboro visits the Robins Center on Saturday December 10th.
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