Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tough A-10 showdown for Richmond

Wednesday's games

Richmond (12-5, 3-0 Atlantic 10) at Duquense (15-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10), 7 p.m.
 This is a big road test for the Spiders, a showdown between two of the four teams currently tied for first in the A-10 (the other unbeatens are Temple and Xavier). Both teams are on a roll (or would that be on rolls -- plural, hmmmm ... ). Richmond has won eight of its last nine, and Duquesne has won 9 of its last 10. Recent history is on the Dukes' side, as they have won the last two meetings with Richmond (including an impressive win at the Robins Center last January). But the Spiders are looking especially good right now. Abby Oliver is the conference's reigning Player of the Week (she put up 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting Sunday), and if she can continue to complement Brittani Shells, then Richmond is awfully hard to contain.
Richmond 65, Duquesne 61.

Longwood (3-12) at South Carolina Upstate (7-8) at 7 p.m.

First things first: Where is S.C. Upstate anyways? It's in Spartansburg, hence the team is the Spartans. Now that we've got that settled ... The Lancers have lost their last three games by a total of 10 points. SC Upstate has also lost its last three, but the combined margin is 39 points. The suspicion is that Longwood is due to pull out a close one. On the one hand, Longwood whupped up on Campbell 71-48, while Campbell played Upstate much closer in an 85-71 loss. On the other hand (there's always two of them, you know), Longwood lost to Marshall, while Upstate beat that same Thundering Herd, so the "common opponents" thing looks like a wash. In the end, (a.) it should be a close game, (b.) Longwood seems primed to win a close one after three straight closes losses, and (c.) the Lancers are good free throw shooters, which always comes in handy in a tight game.
Longwood 73, S.C. Upstate 68

No comments:

Post a Comment