Monday, November 11, 2013

Sunday's recap: Richmond, Hampton come up big


Sunday's recap

Richmond 57, Miami 50: The Spiders shut down the Hurricanes most of the game, then hang on to notch a significant road victory.

Hampton 64, St. Peter's 37: The Lady Pirates scored 34 points off 26 Peacocks turnovers to hand coach David Six his 100th career victory (100-30).

East Carolina 75, George Mason 66: The Patriots battled gamely but couldn't overcome 28.8 percent shooting.

Player of the Day

Alyssa Bennett, Hampton: The Lady Pirates smooth senior led the way with 21 points (on 9-of-17 shooting), 10 rebounds and, as usual, smothering defense.

Special shoutouts

Genevieve Okoro, Richmond: The Spiders star went for 10 points and 11 rebounds as she continues her triumphant return from ACL surgery.

Talisha Watts, George Mason: The 6-2 junior from Lynchburg notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds at East Carolina.

Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton: Impact freshman debuted with 15 points, logged 34 minutes and generally looked as though she'd been in the program for years.

Inside the numbers

Some familiar faces helped do in George Mason. ECU's Abria Trice (21 points, 7 rebounds) used to compete against the Patriots as a member of the UNC Wilmington Seahawks when both teams were in the Colonial Athletic Association. Also, Pirates starting forward Ondrea Shaw actually attended George Mason last year before transferring. The 6-4 Shaw finished with 7 rebounds...It was a tough debut for Patriots newcomer Taylor Brown, who hit her first two shots, including a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the game, but was hampered by foul trouble beginning late in the first half. The Georgetown transfer wound up fouling out with 8:34 left and the Patriots down seven (60-53). She finished with 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

Given the new emphasis on curbing physical play, how games will be called going forward will be particularly important for Hampton, which has mastered in-your-face defense. The Lady Pirates were whistled for 23 fouls against overmatched St. Peter's, including five on starting forward Ryan Jordan and four on star guard Nicole Hamilton. We're betting these guys will adjust, though...Hampton has now won 15 straight home games dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Richmond shot just 31.9 percent but thrived by forcing 22 Miami turnovers and racking up 11 steals without running up a high foul count. The Hurricanes made just eight trips to the free throw line...Kristina King led Richmond with 11 points and freshman Janelle Hubbard added 10 of 4-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes.

Monday's games

High Point at Virginia, 7 p.m.
- On the heels of Friday's disappointing showing at JMU, something tells us we'll see a much more inspired effort, particularly on the boards, by the Cavaliers in this one.

Virginia Tech at Old Dominion, 7 p.m.
- The No. 5 team in our preseason rankings visits No. 4 after both posted emphatic season-opening victories Saturday. Given the upgrades on both sides, the game figures to bear little resemblance stylistically to the 55-35 ODU victory when these teams met in Blacksburg last year. We're sure the Hokies certainly hope so. The teams have split their two previous meetings the past two years, with each team winning in the other's building.

William and Mary at Longwood, 7 p.m.
- The Tribe becomes the last of the state's teams to open its season with this trip to Farmville.

Also worth noting, JMU received one vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday. Not surprisingly, the nod came from the Delaware News-Journal's Kevin Tresolini, who has been covering Colonial Athletic Association hoops for years. Tresolini has JMU 25th on his list this week.

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