VCU Stays Unbeaten at Home on Education Day

With over one thousand Richmond-area schoolchildren, complete with homemade signs, cheering them on, Beth O'Boyle's VCU Rams stay undefeated at the Siegel Center, pulling away from High Point in the second half Thursday afternoon for an 81-59 victory.

The Rams (6-4) were led by Isis Thorpe, who had 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The sophomore's shooting prowess was needed on a day where VCU, other than Thorpe, shot just 14-of-54 from the floor.

"They kept daring me to shoot, so it was pretty easy," Thorpe explained after the game.

Where they took advantage was at the free throw line, converting 30 of 35 opportunities. The Panthers (6-4) only got fourteen shots at the line the entire game, converting only eight.

High Point forward Stacia Robertson scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and was, from the opening tip, the focal point of the Panthers offense. Robertson scored eight of their first nine points over the first four minutes of the game. After that, she was limited to six points.

"Robertson is a great back to the basket post player," head coach O'Boyle said. "In the women's game, you don't always get to see that. In the second half, we started to go get her. We really tried to take away her space."

With Robertson out of the scoring mix, High Point leaned on Latrice Phelps, who led High Point with 15 points, and Lindsay Puckett, who had 12. The Panthers came out strong in the second half, down 37-29, outscoring VCU 13-6 in the first four minutes.

But the Rams responded. With twelve minutes left, the game was at would be its last one-point margin at 47-46. Monnaz Finney-Smith drained a three, Melanie Royster followed with a pair of free throws. Another Finney-Smith jumper pulled the Rams out to a nine point lead at 62-53 with 6:52 to go.

After the Panthers made eight of their first twelve shots in the second half, they tired, making only two of their next thirteen. The Rams scored ten unanswered over the next 2:48 to lead 72-53 with four minutes to go.

Thorpe explained that philsophies and assignments offensively are different this year under O'Boyle.

"Last year, I just came off screens and shot the ball. This year, it's more about creating your play, so what was really hard for me to be consistent in was analyzing the floor, taking good shots. Having an IQ to feel the space was hard, because this is the first year learning how to just read rather than having a coach tell me where to go. It's exciting; I want to learn those things," Thorpe said.

VCU had four players in double figures as Finney-Smith had eleven, Adaeze Alaeze ten, and Meadowbrook product Ashley Pegram had twelve before a hard collision on a fastbreak with Robertson sent her to the floor, hitting her head in the process midway through the second half. She was carried off the court. There was no word on her condition postgame, but O'Boyle was confident the sophomore would bounce back quickly.

The Rams host Texas-Pan American on Sunday for a 1pm game at the Siegel Center, before breaking for Christmas. They'll travel to Coppin State on December 28th as the Atlantic 10 conference season schedule looms on the horizon.