Thursday, November 18, 2010

Richmond, VCU enjoy home cooking

Wednesday was a nice night for the state's Richmond delegation, as both the Spiders and VCU opened their home schedules with comfortable wins.

Richmond 88, Appalachian State 78: The Mountaineers proved to be the ideal home-opening opponent, as just like last year this matchup showcased Spiders basketball at its best. Brittani Shells was, well Brittani Shells - 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Richmond's pressure defense produced 14 steals and 25 turnovers, leading to 31 points. Abby Oliver (a season-high 18 points), Kara Powell (14) and Crystal Goring (13) all finished in double figures. And freshman Genevieve Okoro tied for team-high rebounding honors with 8 in just 18 minutes. All in all, it was a perfect advertisement for what these Spiders (2-1) can do. Too bad only 331 showed up. At least they got their money's worth. Now, if they'll just tell their friends....

Virginia Commonwealth 59, Winthrop 49: The Lady Eagles had no answer for Courtney Hurt (25 points, 12 rebounds), which isn't surprising because few teams will if the 6-1 junior keeps performing the way she has so far. The final score is somewhat misleading as the Rams (2-0) led by 24 in the second half before getting a bit sloppy down the stretch. "I thought the first 30 minutes we did a really good job on both ends of the floor," Rams coach Beth Cunningham said. "However, there are certainly things that we need to improve as in the last 10 minutes where we didn't defend how we wanted to and we got a little careless with the basketball.  But all in all, it's a good way to start the season here with a win." Next up for the Rams - a trip to Virginia Tech on Sunday. 

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