GAME #4 FINAL: #3 Duquesne 66, #6 Rhode Island 53
A pedestrian last quarterfinal at the Richmond Coliseum turned high-octane in the last eight minutes, as first Rhode Island stormed to the lead after trailing for nearly 20 minutes with a 13-2 run to lead at 49-48 with 4:52 to play, then the Dukes answered with a knockout blow led by senior Olivia Bresnahan's late heroics to take the lead for good and seal it at the free throw line.
Deva'Nyar Workman led Duquesne with 16 points, while Bresnahan and Belma Nurkic added 13 and Jose-Ann Johnson earned a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Bresnahan dished out two assists, the first to help Duquesne retake the lead at 50-49, then followed with a three-pointer at 2:15 left, then, a minute later, a traditional three-point play to up the lead to 59-51 and put the game out of reach.
Rhode Island finishes with a composite 9-9 Atlantic 10 record, and their 18-13 overall record should merit them consideration for the WNIT, a fantastic accomplishment for first-year head coach Daynia La-Force, who saw her Rams picked to finish 13th out of the 14 Atlantic 10 teams in the conference's preseason poll.
The Dukes now move on to their first Atlantic 10 Semifinal since 2006. Duquesne faces #2 Dayton in the 1:30pm semifinal on Saturday. The Flyers won the only meeting between the two in the regular season, 78-67 at Dayton on January 11th.
NOTABLE QUOTES:
"I'll be very honest, when the All-Conference Teams came out I was very disappointed that we only had one player named. I told the kids and I thought it would throw gasoline on the fire. They said, 'We don't care. All we want to do is win an A-10 Championship.'"--Duquesne Head Coach Dan Burt
"No one thought we could have the season we had, but from day one when I walked into this program, we believed it. We lost our first two games, and afterwards I walked into the film room and the players' eyes were wide, their hearts were heavy, they said, 'Coach, tell us exactly what we need to do to win. And we will win.' We're a team of winners and a team of champions. And we'll get there."--Rhode Island Head Coach Daynia La-Force
GAME #4 AT THE HALF: #3 Duquesne 29, #6 Rhode Island 25
After leading much of the half, the underdog Rams went ice cold in the final 7:46 of play, missing nine of their last ten field goal attempts, opening the door for the Dukes to take the intermission lead.
Belma Nurkic leads the Dukes with seven points, while Deva'Nyar Workman has six. Seven Duquesne players have scored. Sydney Lewis leads the Rams, and all scorers, with 10 points, but Atlantic 10 Rookie of The Year Charise Wilson has been held to just two points.
Duquesne hit seven of their eight first-half free throws. Rhode Island did not attempt one, as the Dukes only committed four fouls. The winner of this game gets #2 Dayton in the second semifinal at the Richmond Coliseum Saturday at 1:30pm.
NOTE: Semifinals will be televised on CBS Sports Network (Comcast 732/854 HD, FiOS 94/594 HD, DirecTV 221, Dish 158).
GAME #3 FINAL: #2 Dayton 80, #7 Saint Joseph's 61
The Flyers put on a dominant performance, advancing to their eighth consecutive Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinal as four players scored in double figures to eliminate Saint Joseph's.
Four Flyers scored in double figures, led by Amber Deane's 22 points in 26 minutes off the bench, Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova had 16, while seniors Andrea Hoover and Ally Malott had 13 and 12 respectively.
In their final games for the Hawks, graduate senior Ashley Robinson had 15 points while Natasha Cloud added 13. Sarah Fairbanks had nine points and ten rebounds before fouling out. Saint Joseph's lost their shooting touch after intermission, shooting just seven for 28 in the second half.
Saint Joseph's ends their season at 13-17 and will miss the postseason for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Dayton moves on to face the winner of the Duquesne/Rhode Island quarterfinal.
NOTABLE QUOTES:
"Even though she gave me a couple of black eyes in high school, I wouldn't give up playing with this girl for anything."--Saint Joseph's senior guard Natasha Cloud, speaking of graduate senior Ashley Robinson, who finished her sixth and final season as a Hawk, overcoming two achilles heel tears to complete her senior year of eligibility. She is working on two Master's Degrees.
"Jodie had a great game, and Hoover is Hoover. I thought we did a good job defensively in the second half, holding them to 25 percent from the field."--Dayton Head Coach Jim Jabir
"We lacked consistency (this season). We got hit with the injury bug. Every day it was who was going to be at practice."--Saint Joseph's Head Coach Cindy Griffin assessing the biggest problem that befell the Hawks this season.
GAME #3 AT THE HALF: #2 Dayton 44, #7 Saint Joseph's 33
While both teams started out hot from the floor, combining for 21 points in the first four minutes, the Flyers continued with consistent shooting to pull away to a double-digit lead that they held for the last eight minutes of the half.
Atlantic 10 Sixth Player of the Year Amber Deane leads the Flyers with 10 points, while First-Team All-Atlantic 10 seniors Andrea Hoover and Ally Malott and Jodie Cornelie all had eight points.
The Hawks were led by First-Team All-Atlantic 10 senior Natasha Cloud and Sarah Fairbanks with seven points apiece. Dayton had nine second-chance points in the first half. The winner will face the winner of tonight's fourth quarterfinal between Duquesne and Rhode Island.
GAME 2 FINAL: #4 Fordham 46, #5 Richmond 45
It was not the parenthetical ending the Richmond Spiders wanted. As they began their Atlantic 10 season with a heartbreaking one-point loss in overtime at Fordham January 4th, two months and two days later, the Spiders' emotional season ended with a one-point defeat at the Richmond Coliseum in the Atlantic 10 Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Spiders led by as many as seven in the second half, but went cold in a key stretch in the middle minutes, as the Rams went on a 16-4 run to retake the lead. Richmond battled back, and the lead went back and forth several times. Genevieve Okoro hit two free throws with :10.2 left to tie the game at 45. But the Spiders were guilty of a foul inside at 1.3 left, and the Rams hit one of two free throws to seal the victory.
The Spiders finish the 2014-15 Atlantic 10 season with a 10-8 record, counting the tournament, and are 18-13 overall. They will likely earn a bid to the WNIT.
The Rams will move into Saturday's first semifinal at 11am, taking on #1 seeded George Washington, who eliminated Saint Louis earlier Friday.
NOTABLE QUOTES:
"Both teams were very well matched, as they were at Fordham. I couldn't be more proud of my ladies. We will play again."--Richmond Head Coach Michael Shafer
"I will be working on driving and kickouts, as our team has some very good shooters. At this level, everyone is fast, or faster. They're the same height, or bigger than you."--Richmond freshman guard Micaela Parson, a Monacan High School graduate, who had a career-high 12 points.
"I'm very proud of my team. We all wanted to win, we believed."--Fordham senior Emily Tapio.
"I will say I tried to miss the last free throw. I did."--Fordham senior Taryn Durant, whose made free throw with 1.3 seconds left sealed the win.
GAME 2 AT THE HALF: #4 Fordham 20, #5 Richmond 20
The Spiders overcame a horrid shooting start, hitting just three of their first sixteen shots, to close the half on a 10-4 run over a four-minute stretch, led by freshman, and Monacan High School graduate, Micaela Parson, with 10 points. Liz Brown added five.
Emily Tapio and Tiffany Ruffin each have six points to the lead the Rams. Neither team scored in the final 3:53 of the first half. The winner plays top-seeded George Washington in Saturday's 11am first semifinal at the Coliseum.
GAME 1 FINAL: #1 George Washington 77, #9 Saint Louis 63
There was simply too much firepower from the Colonials, who opened a double-digit lead early in the second half, then held off a late Billikens charge in the final six and a half minutes to seal a victory over the only team to defeat George Washington en route to their regular season Atlantic 10 title.
Jonquel Jones and Caira Washington combined to grab 24 of the Colonials' 49 rebounds, Washington leading all scorers with 24 points, while Jones added 14. Hannah Schaible also scored 14 points while Lauren Chase added 12.
Jamesia Price was held to just three points in the second half, finishing with a team-high 20 for Saint Louis. Jackie Kemph, one of four players battling the flu for the Billikens, added 17 points, while Sadie Stipanovich, held scoreless in the first half and in foul trouble, scored ten points in the second half.
In Saint Louis' 79-61 win over George Washington February 11th, the Billikens held Washington and Jones to a combined 14 points.
Saint Louis ends its season at 15-16, but return all of their starters, and all but one player (Desirae Ball) who played today.
George Washington returns to the semifinals to face the winner of Richmond/Fordham at 11am Saturday. The Colonials were eliminated in the semis last year by Dayton.
NOTABLE QUOTES:
"We're beyond moral victories with this program. We really are. The expectations for us are changing, the culture is changing, our program is changing. The future is very bright, with this one (Jamesia Price) coming back as our leader. Holy cow, I couldn't be more excited."--Saint Louis Head Coach Lisa Stone
"When you're in the 30th game of the year, you understand the attention Jonquel (Jones) is going to garner, and I just thought Caira (Washington) got the ball in great spots, and that was her putting herself in those spots. She scored off out-of-bounds plays, she scored in transition, she scored on dump passes when she was in the right spot where our guards could find her."--George Washington Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis on Washington's 24 point, 9 rebound performance in today's quarterfinal.
GAME 1 AT THE HALF: #1 George Washington 40, #9 Saint Louis 34
Jamesia Price, coming off a career-high 24 points in the Billikens win over VCU in the second round Thursday, scores 17 points in the first half to help Saint Louis keep up with the top-seeded Colonials in a game that began at a frenetic pace and stayed uptempo throughout the first twenty minutes.
George Washington took an early lead, fought off a Saint Louis run, and kept the lead, albeit small at times, through the half. Caira Washington was five-of-six from the floor, leading the Colonials with 14 points, while Hannah Schaible added 12. Both teams are shooting 44 percent from the field, and while Saint Louis is six-of-seven from the line, George Washington is nine-of-ten.
Saint Louis leads 20-14 in points in the paint, mainly due to drives to the basket, as Third Team All-Atlantic 10 performer Sadie Stipanovich was held scoreless in the first half due to two early personal fouls.
The winner of this game faces the winner of our next quarterfinal between Richmond and Fordham Saturday at 11am in the tournament semifinals.
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