Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The schedule report: Richmond


We chill out from women's basketball for a few days to lock in on the U.S. Open (Way to go, Sam! Holla, Novak! Ouch, Fed!) and bam! - 2011-12 schedules all over the place. So now, slowly but surely, we're taking a look at them one-by-one. Our series continues with....

(click on the link for the school's release)

On the marquee

Virginia at Richmond, Dec. 4
   - Game features the return of new Cavaliers coach and former Spiders leader Joann Boyle, who led Richmond to a 67-29 record and the 2005 NCAA Tournament in her three seasons.

Get your tickets early for...

Richmond at VCU, Dec. 1
   - Actually, there's probably no rush as the "Battle of Richmond'' hasn't been a big draw of late. But we're excited about the matchup, and shoot, if we're excited, the entire city of Richmond should be excited, right? Richmond is retooling while the Rams are loaded with talented returners so it will be interesting to see if VCU can reverse a trend that has seen it drop three straight and 10 of the last 12 in the series. 

Food for thought

- The Spiders are playing seven games against in-state opponents, and no wonder - last year Richmond went 5-1 against schools in Virginia with each of the victories coming by at least 10 points and three of the wins coming by at least 22 points. 

- Richmond's Dec. 29 game against James Madison will be played in Bethlehem, Pa. as part of the Lehigh Christmas Classic. The Spiders will play the host school the following day.

- The Spiders open their season on Nov. 11 at Navy and one of our favorite coaches, Stephanie Pemper. A few years ago, Pemper wowed us with her approach to coaching during her stint with the Division III Bowdoin Polar Bears (love that name). Last year, in her third season at Navy, she guided the Mids to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. 

- Boston University was supposed to visit Richmond last season, but the game was postponed because of a winter storm. The teams will now meet on Nov. 18 at the Robins Center. The Lady Terriers roster includes junior guard and Richmond native Kristen Sims.

- A first-ever visit to Richmond by Hartford on Dec. 22 brings Hawks junior forward Ruthanne Doherty home for Christmas. Doherty amassed 1,615 points and 1,083 rebounds during a four-year career at L.C. Bird High.  

- Richmond's 14-game Atlantic 10 schedule features a home-and-home series with George Washington and single games against everyone else. The conference home games are against Temple, LaSalle, Rhode Island, St. Joseph's, Fordham and Duquesne in addition to GW.

- After a two-year experiment with playing the Atlantic 10 Tournament at a neutral site, the championships will return to campus this season as the event will be held on March 2-5 at St. Joseph's Hagan Arena in Philadelphia. The tournament was held at the Show Place Arena in Maryland in 2010 and the Tsongas Center in Massachusetts in 2011.


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