Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament Report: First Round

By James Greenspan: SPM Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, March 8, 2008

#8 Richmond edges #9 Duquesne despite late rally

PHILADELPHIA - In the game of the day at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the St. Joseph’s campus, freshman Brittani Shells hit a jump shot with 30 seconds remaining to put her Richmond Spiders ahead for good 58-56, capping a game-high 19-point day. Shells also added eight rebounds.

Trailing by four at halftime, Duquesne came out strong in the second half, led by junior Kristi Little’s tenacious defense and slashing offensive drives to the hoop. Little, Richmond’s top scorer this season with an average 16.5 points a game, was held scoreless in the first half and was noticeably frustrated. But she came out strong in the second half, putting up 12 points and giving her team its only lead of the second period when her free throw put Duquesne up 37-36 with 13:20 remaining. The A-10 Defensive Player of the Year added 5 steals in the second half and was noticeably the teams emotional leader as she keyed the furious comeback.

Richmond enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout most of the second half, watching their margin balloon to a comfortable 51-41 lead with 6:11 remaining in the game. Over the next few minutes however, Duquesne went on a 10-1 run drawing to within a point. With 1:14 remaining in the game Little tied the score 56-56 with a deep three-point shot. Of her shot, Little said, “...[we] struggled early and we needed big shots, and I was able to get us one.”

That 3-pointer was the end of Duquesne’s rally however, as Richmond’s Shells hit a jumper from near the foul line to take the final lead 58-56.

“I was comfortable with my shot; it's something I practice a lot. I’ve been there before,” Shells explained.

Little tried to answer once again, but her deep 3-point attempt was wide of the mark and Duquesne could not quite complete its comeback.

Richmond freshman Crystal Goring added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Spiders, with 12 of her points coming in the second half.

Duquesne’s Jocelyn Chandler added 18 points, and Samantha Pollino contributed 14.

The Spiders will take on #1 seed Temple at 12:00 today.

#5 Dayton wins comfortably over #12 Massachusetts

Senior Nikki Oakland led the Dayton Flyers to a 57-51 win over UMass with a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double. Despite a hard-fought contest, the Flyers were equal to the task of the senior-laden UMass squad.

For UMass it was a tale of two halves. UMass shot 12-30 (40 percent) from the floor in the first half, but the real key was their perimeter defense, where they held the Flyers to 1-12 from 3-point range to stay in the game, trainling only 27-26 at halftime.

Dayton came out strong in the second half. A 9-2 run expanded their lead to 38-30. UMass was never quite able to get back into the game, and although the final margin of victory was only six points one never really got the feeling that a comeback was possible. After the game, Dayton senior Brittany Holterman said that losing to UMass earlier in the season was a “huge” motivating factor for the Flyers in this game.

For UMass seniors Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio were the stars, trying to keep their team in contention in the second half. Rosanio had 11 points in the game while Mills added 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. It was Mills’ seventh double-double this season, and her huge rebounding night tied the record for the third most rebounds in A-10 Tournament history.

After the game -- their last now that they will graduate -- both Mills and Rosanio were noticeably upset. They walked out of the press conference hugging and crying together, but expressed pride in their team and their accomplishments.

The Flyers advance to take on #4 seed Charlotte today at 2:00.

#10 Rhode Island upsets #7 St. Bonaventure

URI took a comfortable first-half lead and never looked back. Using great ball movement URI spread the ball and the points around and had four players finish with at least nine points. This balanced offense was tough for the Bonnies to defend as they were never able to key on stopping just one person on defense.

Despite struggling from the field on just 26.9 percent shooting during the second half, the Bonnies made a late charge, using a 10-0 run to cut the URI lead to just 40-38. But URI was able to hit from the free-throw line, going 13-16 in the second half, and was able quickly to balloon the lead back up to double-digits, ending the Bonnies comeback chances and their season.

For the Bonnies, junior Katelyn Murray had 20 points, and Second Team All A-10 senior Dana Mitchell added 15, but neither effort was enough to top URI, who won 61-49.

URI advances to face #2 seed George Washington today at 4:00.

#6 St. Joe’s uses home-court advantage to top #11 Saint Louis 71-58

Behind a stellar shooting effort, St. Joseph’s was able to overwhelm Saint Louis, shooting 55.6 percent from the field including hitting 17-25 (.680) during the second half. St. Joe’s had four players in double-figures, and with under 8:00 left in the game, never led by fewer than double figures.

After a frenetically paced first few minutes of the game -- which saw plenty of turnovers on both sides -- the Hawks were able to pull ahead thanks to nine first-half points from senior leader Timisha Gomez. They led 33-25 at the break.

For the Billikens, sophomore Katie Pagenelli tried to lead a second-half comeback, with a team-high 13 points, but wasn’t able to keep her team in it. The Billikens' leading scorer this season, Theresa Lisch averaged 17.2 points per game, but the Hawks' tight defense held her to eight points and she shot only 2-11 from the field.

A rowdy crowd cheered St. Joe’s on to victory, and they will seek to gain a little bit of momentum from the win as they take on a tough #3 seed Xavier at the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse tonight at 6:00.