Friday, November 18, 2011

Richmond rolls, Tribe, Lady Flames fall

Friday's recaps:

Richmond 72, Boston University 60
She's back, and better than ever. Rachael Bilney, who lost all of last season to an ACL tear, opened up a can on Boston University Friday with a career-high 19 points. In one pivotal stretch it was all Bilney all the time - with 7:2 left in the second half and the Spiders trailing by two, Bilney rattled off 8 straight points in a 59-second span to give the Spiders command for good. When Bilney last played, in 2009-10, she averaged 6.3 points per game. Through three games this season, she's averaging 14.0. Wonder what they replaced that knee ligament with. Bionics? Speaking of fast starts, Richmond freshman Liz Brown was perfect Friday - although we're sure Spiders coach Michael Shafer will find something on film to correct her about - as she went 7-for-7 from the field for 15 points. And let's not forget Jumpin' Gen Okoro, who checked in with 14 points and 7 rebounds to help the Spiders improve to 3-0. And to think, the Spiders did all this despite an off night from sharpshooter Abby Oliver. Oliver began play needing just 9 points to reach 1,000 for her career. She finished with just 4, on 2-of-10 shooting. Wouldn't be surprised if she was pressing a bit; 1,000 points is a pretty big deal, and it's the kind of milestone we're sure she'd want to reach at the Robins Center. The good news - at least for us - is now we'll get to see her do it. The Spiders' next game is at Old Dominion, and we plan on being there.

North Carolina A&T 81, Liberty 74
We picked Liberty to win, but we had a bad feeling about this one, particularly if game turned into a shootout. Avery Warley scored 18 points to lead four Liberty players in double figures, but the Lady Flames struggled to defend the Aggies all night and got burned by A&T's 52.4 percent 3-point shooting (9 of 17).

Navy 61, William and Mary 58
Back-and-forth game. Janine Aldridge's 3-point with 2:52 to play nudged the Tribe in front 55-54, but the home team went scoreless for the next 2:28 to fall to 1-2. Jacyln McKenna continued getting it down with 17 points and 7 rebounds, Katherine DeHenzel filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, 8 assists and 5 steals and Aldridge and Kyra Kerstetter each had 10 points for the Tribe, who continue to play without starters Taysha Pye (suspension) and Kaitlyn Mathieu (concussion).

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