UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. — The Spiders used a dominant first half to cruise past North Carolina A&T, 76-63, Wednesday afternoon at the Robins Center.
The Spiders sustained a late rally by North Carolina A&T to move to 4-4 on the season, while the Aggies fell to 3-3. After Richmond went up by its largest margin of the game, 62-39 with 10:15 left, North Carolina A&T chipped away at the lead with a 17-7 run over the ensuing six minutes to cut the deficit to within 69-59 with 2:28 left.
Richmond put the stamp on the win with free-throws down the stretch.
Richmond scored 10 points in the game’s first four minutes and pushed its lead to 17-5 at the 13:13 mark to take control early. An 8-0 run pushed the lead to 27-7 with just under 10 to play. Kristina King added 11 first-half points, off 5-of-10 shooting from the field while Keri Soppe added eight points.
The Spiders shot 18-for-35 (51.4%) in the first frame, while holding the Aggies to just 9-of-32 (28.1%) from the field. Richmond also had 10 steals and poured in a season-best 40 first-half points.
The Spiders scored a season-high 76 points and had a season-best 40 first-half points. Richmond shot 28-of-63 (44.4%) for the game and went a season-high 12-of-12 from the line. The Spiders outrebounded theAggies, 38-33 and grabbed 11 steals while dishing 14 assists.
Rachael Bilney led Richmond with 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Bilney sank a season-high five threes. Kristina King followed with 13 points, four assists and four steals. Freshman Lauren Tolson continued her off-the-bench brilliance with a career-high 13 points, off 4-of-7 shooting. Tolson also went 4-for-4 at the line.
The Spiders play at the James Madison Dukes Sunday at 2 p.m.
NOTES: Richmond snapped the Aggies’ three-game win streak…Today was the first-ever meeting between the two teams…Today was Richmond’s first home game since Nov. 12…The Spiders scored a season-high 40 first-half points…Richmond improved to 23-8 at the Robins Center over the last two seasons…The Spiders are 2-1 this season at home… The 44-22 advantage was Richmond’s largest halftime lead this season.
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