Before the Great Snow of 2014 descended upon Richmond, Virginia, the hometown Spiders and Fordham Rams raised temperature levels to an all-time high in an instant classic Tuesday night at the Robins Center.
Fordham head coach Stephanie Gaitley saw the renovated Robins Center for the first time. It's a place she called home as head coach beginning in 1985, resurrecting a moribund program in the process. Her winning ways are now home in the Bronx.
But last night, the Spiders, playing a different style of ball due to injuries, proved that the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament will feature upwards of at least nine teams capable of pulling off that magic run to the title, and the accompanying NCAA Tournament bid.
In their 78-77 double overtime victory, Richmond built a first-half lead, took a 10-point advantage to intermission, then stalled at 48 points midway through the second stanza, allowing Erin Rooney and company to slowly chip away at the deficit before finally taking the lead at 55-52. From that point on, it was back and forth, tit for tat for the rest of regulation, and both five minutes overtime periods.
Heroics went to Kristina King, whose three-pointer forced double overtime, and Janelle Hubbard, whose shot with 7.7 seconds remaining sealed the win. Each of them scored 29 points.
Rooney led Fordham with 22 points, while Samantha Clark and Emily Tapio added 17 apiece.
See updated standings to your right as the fight for seeding continues!
T-MINUS 21 DAYS to the 2014 Atlantic 10 Women's Tournament at the Richmond Coliseum!
RVA Sports Network Coverage of Women's Basketball, Part of Our Year Of Women's Sports Initiative!
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