Spiders Fight, end the season in the second round of the WNIT in Rhode Island

KINGSTON, RI – With three lead changes and three spiders ending up in double digits, the University of Richmond women’s basketball team fought hard but ended its season at Rhode Island, 74-64, Monday night in the second round of the WNIT.

The Spiders, who finished the 2022-2023 season with the program’s first A-10 championship since 2009 and the program’s first WNIT appearance since 2015, finished with a 21-11 record as the Rams continue their WNIT run and host the UMass/Harvard winner with an improvement of 26 -6.

“We had a good season, an absolutely great season,” said the head coach Aaron Roussell. “I think this game really showed the progress we’ve had as a team all season. Eight weeks ago, the last time we were here, we were a completely different team. We were in a tough spot, looking 2-4 in the league, and we were really sledding as conference play went on. We really we turned the season around and I’m very proud of this group.”

The Spiders were led by a junior Addie Budnik, who recorded 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 from deep and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line. Freshman Maggie Doogan tallied 13 points in the contest as a junior Grace Townsend was the last Spider in double figures with 12 points. Budnik and Doogan each recorded four rebounds to lead the team, while Townsend had a team-high four steals and Budnik recorded four blocks. Townsend and freshman Rachel Ullstrom also recorded three steals each in the contest.

As a team, the Spiders shot 22/51 (43.1%) from the field, 6/20 (30%) from deep and 14/16 (87.5%) from the line. In addition, the team recorded 22 rebounds, including four offensive boards, 11 assists, seven blocks, eight steals and 18 points off 15 Ram turnovers.

After the Rams opened the game with a mid-range jumper, Budnik tied the game at 2-2 with free throws. Budnik then gave the Spiders their first lead of the game, 8-6, with 5:19 left in the period. The Rams responded on offense as the team went on a 5-0 run to build a 14-10 lead. Hill ended the quarter with a layup to cut the Spider deficit to 17-13 at the break.

Doogan opened the second with a 10-minute layup to put the Spiders ahead 17-16. Budnik then gave UR ​​another lead at 21-19 with 8:03 left in the half courtesy of Townsend. Ullstrom followed with two free throws to push the Spiders to a 23-19 lead. The Rams scored 15 unanswered points after a Spider rally to build an 11-point lead, 34-23, before graduation Emilia Krista Grava ended the scoring year in a 34-25 loss. Efforts from Doogan and Ullstrom sent the Spiders to the locker room trailing 40-30.

In the half, the Spiders shot 10/27 (37%) from the field, 4/11 (36.4%) from deep and 6/7 (85.7%) from the line. In addition, the team recorded 15 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, two steals and 10 points off five Ram turnovers. Individually, Budnik paced the team with 10 points and two blocks, while Doogan had seven points and Ullstrom had five points. Three Spiders, Townsend, sophomore Kate Hill and Doogan each recorded three boards, while Townsend led the team with three.

The Spiders opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run to cut the Rams’ lead to 44-39. After an opponent’s three, Doogan made a jumper to make it 47-41 in favor of URI with 6:29 left. A pair of buckets by Grava and Budnik put the Spiders ahead 52-45, but the Rams ended the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 60-45 lead into the fourth.

Townsend recorded a layup with 46 seconds left before the Rams went on a 5-0 run to build a 65-47 lead. After a few buckets from URI, the Spiders began to cut the deficit on efforts from Townsend, Doogan and Ullstrom to go up 72-61 with 1:06 left in the game. One final three with 22 seconds left from Budnik put the game on top for the Rams, 74-64.