By Kyle Soppe
A thriller in Dayton ended with the home team marching out with a 81-78 victory over the visiting Spiders. Forty minutes wasn’t enough, as two of the elite teams in the A-10 played an extra five minutes to determine a winner. Justine Raterman paced the Flyers with 19 points while Abby Oliver poured in 28 in a losing effort.
The Richmond Spiders and Dayton Flyers both came into this game looking to keep pace with the red hot Bonnies, but only the home team seemed prepared for a battle. Starting center Casey Nance stands above every Spider, and she took advantage in the games early minutes. Although averaging only 4.9 points per game, the Flyers worked their first half offense through the middle with a heavy dose of Nance. She tallied the first eight UD points, setting a physical tone, similar to that we have seen from the Temple Owls this season. The Owls defeated both of these teams, but it was Dayton in the first 20 minutes who seemed to have corrected their flaws.
While Nance paced the Flyer attack, it was Becca Wann who was responsible for keeping the Spiders within shouting distance. The all star soccer forward scored five quick points, including a desperation fade away jumper to beat the shoot clock. The possession, while it resulted in points, was indicative of how the first half went for Richmond. They struggled to develop any sort of offensive flow, with turnovers and bad shots stunting their offense.
The two teams went back and forth for the most of the half, answering each others baskets. The top two players in the contest, Richmond’s Abby Oliver and Dayton’s Justine Raterman, both began to heat up and carry their respective teams. Oliver made things happen on the deffensive end, as it was a steal at the top of the key that got her game going. Off of the theft, Oliver took four right handed dribbles and soared in for the easy deuce. Not to be outdone, Raterman answered with a bucket in the paint.
The two studs essentially offset one another in the first half, Oliver had 10 points and Raterman 11, but the Spiders struggled to produce any offense outside of Wann. Despite Wann’s magnificent shot making ability, including a deep three pointer, the Spiders fell into an offensive lull and Dayton took advantage.
An Ellie Queen triple broke a tie, and sparked a run from the Flyers. Raterman buried a long ball, and UD was beating UR at its own game. Stifling man to man defense forced Richmond into more turnovers, as the lead ballooned at the half. Wann lead all scorers with 13 points on 6/7 shooting. Dayton found more balance as Queen, Raterman, Nance, and Sant all tallied at least eight first half points.
The Flyers stroke first out of the intermission, but the Spiders had a renewed sense of determination from that point forward. Rachel Bilney connected on back to back shots inside the paint after a quiet first half from Richmond’s deadly shooter. Liz Brown converted a lay up plus the foul, and Richmond was rolling. How would the preseason co-champion of the A-10 respond?
They responded as any great fighter would, answering the Spiders punch with a retaliation. A big time three pointer from straight on by Ally Mallot, courtesy of a Samantha Mackay pinpoint pass, and UD brought their lead up to 53-44. After Richmond Brown’s three point play, Olivia Applewhite answered with an athletic three point play of her own. Despite a strong run from the Spiders, Dayton maintained the nine point edge that they took into halftime.
From that point on, Richmond played as if they were on a mission, as if they wouldn’t go down in heart breaking style like they had at Temple to open up A-10 conference play. As the teams lone senior, Oliver took control of the offense, and buckets followed in bunches. She knocked down a mid range pull up, then spotted a cutting Wann for an easy two. With fire in her eyes, Oliver attacked the rim with reckless abandon, forcing the Flyer defenders to nearly tackle her just to keep her away from the rim. She made them pay at the line, making four attempts in two possessions, and bringing her Spiders to within a single point with 4:40 left to play.
After a transition layup by Mallot, Wann returned the favor and found an open Oliver at the top of the key. “Hand down, man down” in the words of Mark Jackson, as Oliver evened up the score at 65.
Oliver and Raterman both knew it was their time to shine, their time to make their imprint on the game and leave UD Arena with a hard fought W. Following Wann’s split at the free throw line, Raterman began attacking the center of the Spiders defense, and much like Oliver, wouldn’t take no for an answer. She drew contact and made both of her freebies. Oliver had the answer, as she lined up a cold blooded trey. Richmond took the lead with 41 seconds left, more than enough time for Raterman to exact revenge.
Two offensive rebounds on regulations final possession by Raterman gave the Flyers multiple looks at the victory, or at least overtime. With but five seconds on the clock, Raterman was hacked, and forced to knock down two pressure packed free throws. The senior showed no nerves, netted both, and prepared her team for bonus basketball.
The overtime period started slow, with neither team wanting to make a crucial, game alerting error. Richmond built a three point advantage after a pair of Rachel Bilney free throws, but that was quickly erased with four consecutive makes from Sant. With UR down a point, and time wearing thin, Oliver had the ball bouncing at her fingertips, deciding how to attack the big Dayton front line. She dribbled left, but couldn’t shake free. A hesitation did her no good, and she couldn’t find room. But this was her shot to take, and she did just that. Her impressive pull up game had given her confidence earlier in the contest, and connected on a jumper while falling out of bounds.
Raterman saw what her opposing senior did, and clearly was thinking the same thing. Raterman wanted this game to be won or lost on her ability to get to the basket. A driving lay up and a mid range jumper, but set up by Mackay again, and Dayton had a strangle hold on this one. Dayton made their free throws, while Richmond simply could not get a good shot off as the clock ticked down.
Becca Wann ended the night with an impressive double-double, totaling 16 points and 10 boards. Dayton’s post presence was not limited to a massive impact on the offensive end, but they limited Gen Okoro to only seven points. While Raterman led the way for the Flyers, Queen (12), Nance (15), and Sant (14) all contributed tremendous scoring performances. Another key factor in Dayton’s ability to win was the passing of Patrice Lalor (7 assists) and Mackay (6).
Richmond travels to St. Louis on Saturday, while Dayton heads to George Washington to continue conference play.
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