Jan. 20, 2009

Final Stats

RICHMOND, Va. - The St. Bonaventure women's basketball team's comeback attempt came up just short, as it dropped a tough 71-64 Atlantic 10 battle to Richmond on Tuesday evening at the Robins Center.

The Bonnies overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to take a lead late in the second half, but Richmond's Brittani Shells took over soon after to propel the Spiders to the victory.

Shells scored a game-high 26 points, including nine of Richmond's final 15 points, to lead the Spiders. She shot 10-of-17 from the field to go along with five rebounds and five assists for the game.

The St. Bonaventure defense, which has been so strong this season, had no such affect on the Spiders and their aggressive offensive attack. Richmond shot 46 percent (25-54) from the field and 44 percent (4-9) from three-point land for the game. The 71 points scored by the Spiders is the most allowed by the Brown and White's defense in over a month.

Junior Dana Mitchell led St. Bonaventure in scoring with 18 points on 7-for-14 from the field. Freshman Megan Van Tatenhove played a very efficient game for the Bonnies as well, scoring a season-high 18 points on 3-of-5 from the field and an impressive 10-of-10 shooting from the foul line.

The win bumps Richmond's record up to 15-4 and 3-1 in the A-10. The loss drops St. Bonaventure down to 13-5 overall and 2-1 in the A-10.

Richmond jumped out of the gates to an early 10-0 lead over the first five minutes of the game. The Spiders run was aided by eight St. Bonaventure turnovers and 0-of-5 shooting from the field.

The Bonnies would climb back into the game on the strength of back-to-back jumpers by Mitchell to cut the Spiders lead down to 12-8, with 11:37 left in the first half.

Richmond would re-assume command of the game with a 9-2 run towards the end of the first half. A three-pointer by Rachael Bilney would give the Spiders their largest lead of the half, 29-18, with 3:11 left.

Priscilla Edwards would hit a jumper with 25 seconds left to close the gap, as St. Bonaventure went into half trailing 33-25.

The Brown and White would come out of intermission strong, using an 8-3 run over the first four minutes of the second half. A three-pointer by Erica Schiefen would cut Richmond's lead to just three, 36-33, with 16:31 to go in the game.

Shells would keep the lead with the Spiders, as she drilled a three-pointer to put Richmond back up by six at 47-41.

The teams would exchange scores on their next few possessions until St. Bonaventure would make their move. The Bonnies went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Andrea Doneth would give the Brown and White their first lead of the game at 58-57, with just 5:44 remaining in the game.

Shells would come up big for the Spiders, again, scoring the game's next four points to put Richmond back up by three, 61-58.

After a pair of Mitchell free throws brought St. Bonaventure back within two, Nikita Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a put-back to put the Spiders up 66-62, with only 1:04 to go in the game.

Following a St. Bonaventure timeout, the Bonnies tried to post up Mitchell but they couldn't get the ball to her. With the shot clock winding down Doneth put up a floater that was no good and Richmond corralled the rebound. The Spiders then made their free throws on the other end to seal the win.

St. Bonaventure will be back in action as they return to the Reilly Center on Saturday, January 20 to battle Temple. The Bonnies will host the nation-wide WBCA "Think Pink Day" initiative when the Brown and White take on the Owls.