Basketball
Spiders top JMU in women’s NIT
It has been nearly two decades since a Richmond women’s basketball team has won as many games as the 2008–09 Spiders. Fourth-year coach Michael Shafer’s squad advanced in postseason tournament play to finish 24-10, the highest victory total since the 1990–91 team went 26-5.
The Spiders reached the Atlantic 10 tournament finals and earned a first-round bye in the WNIT. Richmond beat James Madison in the second round before losing to Georgetown in the third.
After the Georgetown game, Shafer paid tribute to his team and seniors Johanna McKnight and Augustina Zygaite. He thanked “Jo for five and Augie for four great years. ... They really stepped up the leadership.” Shafer said the season was characterized by the team’s determination in the face of injuries to key players. “They never made excuses.”
Robins Center banners honor Davey and Jordan
New banners in the Robins Center honor two of Richmond’s greatest women’s basketball players, Karen Elsner Davey, ’85, (above left) and Pam Bryant Jordan, ’90, (above right).
The banners are the first to pay tribute to female players. Three banners honor members of the men’s program: Warren Mills, B’57, Johnny Newman, R’86, and former coach Dick Tarrant.
Davey’s statistics dominate the Spiders’ record book, just as she dominated opponents on the court. She is Richmond’s all-time leading scorer with 2,367 career points, and holds eight of the Spiders’ top 10 single-game scoring efforts, including a school-record 39 points against Radford in 1983. Her scoring averages for each of her four seasons, ranging from 18.8 to 23, are the four best in the program’s history. Her nine individual records include the most rebounds in a season (347) and game (23) and the most free throws made in a season (146) and game (19). Davey was a two-time captain, and the Spiders’ went 64-48 during her four years.
Jordan was also a two-time captain. She led Richmond to two postseason appearances, including the Spiders’ first NCAA tournament berth when the team won the Colonial Athletic Association championship her senior year. The Spiders went 25-5 that season, 11-1 in CAA play. Richmond had three 20-win seasons during Jordan’s career, and the Spiders’ record during her four years was 83-37.
She is the program’s third all-time scorer (1,766 points), fourth in field goals made in a season (232), and steals in a season (69).
—Randy Hallman
McKnight ended her career with 1,106 points, placing her 12th on the Spiders’ all-time scoring list.
Shafer also looked to the Spiders’ future. Sophomore Brittani Shells led the team with 15.1 points per game. She made the all-conference first team, the all-conference defensive team, and the A-10 all-tournament team. Freshman Rachel Bilney made nearly 38 percent of her three-point field goal attempts, the third-best percentage in the conference. Other returning players include the Spiders’ top two rebounders, juniors Crystal Goring (6.8 per game) and Nikita Thomas (5.4 per game).
“I’m very, very optimistic,” Shafer said. “I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the A-10.”
Next year’s team will be tested early against reigning NCAA Division I champion Connecticut on the Huskies’ home floor.
Swimming
UR wins 8th straight A-10 championship
Few college teams in any sport have dominated their conferences the way the women’s swim team has dominated the Atlantic 10. In February, the Spiders won their eighth straight A-10 title.
The Spiders easily outscored second-place St. Bonaventure 742-540. Richmond won 11 of 18 events and set seven A-10 records during the conference meet. Senior Lauren Beaudreau won seven medals, six of them gold.
Richmond’s dominance and Beaudreau’s competitive fire were evident in the 200-yard breaststroke. Beaudreau has owned the conference record in the event for three years, but in a preliminary heat, LaSalle’s Shannon Duval broke Beaudreau’s record with a time of 2:14.64. But Beaudreau was not finished. In a sport that often sees records trimmed by a few 100ths of a second, the Richmond senior won the gold medal in 2:11.43—beating Duval’s short-lived record by more than three seconds.
Other A-10 records set by Spiders during the championship meet included the 200 individual medley (2:00.11) by Beaudreau, the 100 backstroke (54.65) by junior Alex Hellend, and the 200 backstroke (1:58.00) by sophomore Nicole LePere. The relay team of Beaudreau, Hellend, junior Katie Sieben, and freshman Charlotte Brackett set A-10 records in the 200 medley relay (1:40.17), the 400 medley relay (3:40.34), and the 400 freestyle relay (3:22.87).
Beaudreau sets marks at NCAA nationals
She swam in the U.S. Olympic Trials. She set new standards for Richmond swimmers, helping her team maintain its dominance over the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Lauren Beaudreau closed her college athletic career by representing the University for the third time in the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, held in March at College Station, Texas.
She finished 17th in the 400 individual medley, 21st in the 200 individual medley, and 26th in the 200 breaststroke.
Tennis
Spiders topple Temple to win A-10 title
Richmond left no doubt why it was the top seed in the Atlantic 10 women’s tennis tournament, brushing aside second-seeded and defending champion Temple 4-0 in the finals. Winning the tournament clinched a spot for Richmond in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship.
The team rolled through the conference tournament with 4-0 victories over St. Louis and Charlotte en route to the finals.
The point that finished the tournament sweep came when freshman Helen Cunningham punctuated her 6-3, 6-1 singles victory over Temple’s Anastasia Rukavyshnykova with an overhead slam.
Richmond had taken a 1-0 lead after capturing the doubles point. Senior Pamela Duran and sophomore Isabel Arana won the No. 2 doubles match, 8-1, while seniors Ashlee Vosters and Erin Clark rallied from a 4-3 deficit to win the No. 1 flight, 8-5.
Clark’s 6-3, 6-0 win against Temple’s Lucie Pazderova in No. 2 singles pushed the Spiders’ advantage to 2-0 before Duran recorded a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Elyse Steiner in No. 1 singles. Then Cunningham won the deciding match.
Visit Spiders on the Web — RichmondSpiders.com
