GAME 4 FINAL: Rhode Island 65, La Salle 60
The Rams used an 18-4 run in the middle minutes of the second half to finally take a lead, then got embroiled in a physical, see-saw battle down the stretch. Tayra Melendez, who hadn't scored a point for 59 minutes, knocked down a trey with 35 seconds left to take a 60-58 Rhode Island lead. The Explorers missed late shots, were forced to foul, and Rhode Island took advantage, salting the game away at the line.
Charise Wilson led all scorers with 23 points, while Sydney Lewis added 11 for Rhode Island. Micahya Owens led La Salle with 19 points, while Jasmine Alston had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Rhode Island won its first Atlantic 10 Tournament game Thursday night since 2009, and will face third-seeded Duquesne in the last quarterfinal Friday at 7pm.
GAME 4 AT THE HALF: La Salle 29, Rhode Island 23
The 11th-seeded Explorers lead most of the way in the first twenty minutes, trying to win their second Atlantic 10 Tournament game in under 24 hours.
Jasmine Alston leads La Salle with 10 points, while Charise Wilson paces Rhode Island with 8 points. La Salle shot 48.1% in the first half, while the Rams hit on just 40% of their shots. Neither team has made a three-pointer, a combined 0-for-9 from beyond the arc.
The winner plays #3 Duquesne in Friday's last quarterfinal at the Richmond Coliseum at 7pm. All fans are being admitted free for all quarterfinal games Friday, declared by the Atlantic 10 as "Snow Day, No Pay".
GAME 3: Saint Joseph's 71, George Mason 43
The Hawks cruised in the second half, holding the Patriots to 17 second-half points to defeat George Mason in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.
Natasha Cloud and Ciara Andrews each scored 14 points for Saint Joseph's, who improve to 13-16 overall. Chelsea Woods added nine points and 12 rebounds, as the Hawks were very efficient at the line, making 15 of 16 free throw attempts.
Taylor Brown set the single-season George Mason scoring record with two free throws in the second half. She finished with 11 points tonight and 643 for the season. Brown will lead a core of returnees next season, plus five Division I transfers who will enter head coach Nyla Milleson's program, including 6' 6" center Bridget O'Donnell, and guard Mikala McGhee, who played for Milleson for one season at Missouri State.
The Patriots end the year at 13-17, with five more wins overall than their maiden voyage in the Atlantic 10 last year.
Saint Joseph's now faces #2 seeded Dayton Friday in a 4:30pm quarterfinal. The Flyers won February 15th over the Hawks in their lone regular season affair 82-64.
GAME 3 AT THE HALF: Saint Joseph's 36, George Mason 25
The Hawks open a double-digit halftime advantage as they begin a quest to erase a disappointing regular season by their standards and make a run here at the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Natasha Cloud and Cierra Andrews each have 8 points for the Hawks, while George Mason is led by Taylor Brown, who has nine. Brown is one point shy of the single-season George Mason scoring record of 642 points.
The winner advances to face second-seeded Dayton in Friday's 4:30pm quarterfinal. The Flyers defeated both teams during the regular season.
GAME 2: Richmond 67, UMass 63
The Spiders survive a game effort by the #13 seed, playing their second game in under 24 hours some ten hours from Amherst, as Lauren Tolson hit key free throws in the final minute and led Richmond with 22 points. Tolson was 8-of-10 at the line, and 4-of-9 from three-point range. Janelle Hubbard finished with 18 points while Genevieve Okoro added 12, including three in a critical stretch late in the game to give Richmond a 51-44 lead and draw the fourth personal foul on UMass' Cierra Dillard, who had 16 points and later fouled out.
Kim-Pierre Louis led the Minutewomen, who finished the season at 10-19, with 18 points and six rebounds. Emily Mital added 11 while Rashida Timbilla had 10.
Richmond gets a rematch with Fordham in a #5 vs #4 quarterfinal Friday at 2pm. The Spiders lost a heartbreaker in the Bronx in their Atlantic 10 opener January 4th, 65-64 in overtime.
GAME 2 AT THE HALF: Richmond 25, UMass 23
The Spiders use an 11-2 run in the final 4:40 of the first half to take the intermission lead after trailing most of the way at the Richmond Coliseum. It began with a Keri Soppe trey off the bench, included an And One from Genevieve Okoro and ended with a Janelle Hubbard three-pointer with 52 seconds left.
Hubbard leads Richmond with seven points, while Okoro and Lauren Tolson each have five. The Spiders shot 40 percent from the field. Kim Pierre-Louis, the league's Most Improved Player award winner and Second Team All-Conference member, leads all scorers with 10 points, while Cierra Dillard has six for the Minutewomen.
The winner of this game battles fourth-seeded Fordham, the defending Tournament Champion, in Friday's 2:00pm quarterfinal.
GAME 1: Saint Louis 65, VCU 58
The Billikens overcame poor outside shooting, earning 38 shots at the free throw line, and taking full advantage by going 86.8% from the line to eliminate the Rams, ending Beth O'Boyle's first season at the helm in Richmond at 16-14.
Jamesia Price had a career-high 24 points while Jackie Kemph, playing with the flu, which is going through the Saint Louis team, added 13. Price was 15-of-17 from the charity stripe. Sadie Stipanovich was 10-of-11 at the line, scoring 16 points for Saint Louis.
VCU was led by Isis Thorpe with 23 points, including two key three-pointers which brought the Rams close to taking the lead down the stretch. But a key Price steal in the final minute ended VCU's last hope to complete the comeback. Adaeze Alaeze had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Saint Louis advances to the quarterfinals, playing top-seeded George Washington Friday at 11am. The Billikens handed the Colonials their only conference loss on February 11th, winning 79-61.
The Rams will return their entire roster in 2015-16.
GAME 1 AT THE HALF: Saint Louis 24, VCU 21
The temperatures are falling outside, and shots were not inside the Richmond Coliseum, as the Rams and Billikens struggled to find the rim in the first half. Two late baskets by VCU's Isis Thorpe helped cut a one-time eight-point Billikens lead down to three at intermission.
Saint Louis was 11 of 14 at the free throw line, overcoming a five for 24 field goal shooting performance. Jackie Kemph leads the Billikens with seven points, while Jamesia Price and Third-Team All-Atlantic 10 standout Sadie Stipanovich each have six.
The Rams are led by Thorpe with seven points, while Adaeze Alaeze and Ashley Pegram (Meadowbrook) each have four. Saint Louis currently leads in rebounding with a 25-20 advantage. Combined, the teams were five of 23 from three-point range.
Keira Robinson, Camille Calhoun and Ashlee Mitchell each have two fouls for the Rams, while Kemph, Price, Olivia Jakubicek and Denisha Womack all have two for the Billikens. VCU led 30-24 at halftime of the team's lone meeting on January 12th in Saint Louis, won by the Rams 59-54.
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