Colonials Claim First Atlantic 10 Tournament Title In Over A Decade

Basking in the glory of an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, the conference's Player of The Year, Jonquel Jones, refused to use the term "put the team on her back" to describe a critical stretch of the second half of Sunday's tourney final against Dayton.

But it sure looked that way.

Holding a one-point lead at 51-50, having erased an eight-point halftime deficit, Jones, in a period of 70 seconds near the midway point of the second half, nailed two three-pointers and forced a traditional three-point play in the paint, drawing a foul on the previous Player of The Year, Andrea Hoover. The Flyers called timeout to douse the fire. It was 60-52, and the Flyers never threatened again, as George Washington captured the Atlantic 10 Championship with a 75-62 win Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum.

"I just stepped into the moment in that brief period of time," Jones explained, one not interested in bringing attention to herself, preferring to defer to her teammates.

"Jonquel broke the single-season rebounding record for George Washington and I brought it up to her and she said, 'Coach, I'd prefer we not even bring it up to the team'", said head coach Jonathan Tsipis. "She stretched out today, knocked the threes down. With her, I still think the sky's the limit."

To be sure, even though Jones led the way Sunday with 21 points and six rebounds, even after being saddled with foul trouble, she certainly wasn't alone in bringing a trophy back up I-95 to the Nation's Capital.

Caira Washington, quietly and effectively, registered a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds, Chakecia Miller scored 12 points, going six-of-nine from the field, while Hannah Schaible jumped, dove, and did whatever necessary to keep plays alive, with eleven rebounds to go with her seven points. Schaible, listed a five-foot-nine, much like her opponent, Atlantic 10 Sixth Player of The Year Amber Deane, will go anywhere, do anything to get her hands on the basketball.

That attitude gave George Washington a huge advantage in rebounding, 56-34 over Dayton. It was one that made Flyers head coach Jim Jabir take notice.

"They used their athleticism and strength to wear us down," Jabir said. "We just had a conversation in the locker room and we identified the issues that cost us this game, and I asked them if they were still with me. I pointed out a loss is a good thing, if you improve."

For twenty minutes, it looked as if Dayton would erase the memories of last year's tournament final defeat at the hands of Fordham when the Flyers were the top-seed. Led by Ally Malott's twelve first-half points, Dayton took a 37-29 lead into the locker room. Jones had been on the bench for the final 10:35 of the half with two fouls. Schaible had three.

But the Colonials went work immediately in the second half, taking the lead on a Shannon Cranshaw three-point play at 40-39 just before the first media timeout at 15:58 to go. The Flyers, though suffering from cold shooting, stayed stride for stride with the Colonials for the next four minutes. Then the stage was set for the decisive 70 seconds of the contest.

After the 9-2 Jones run, and the subsequent Dayton timeout, the Colonials kept the foot on the gas. When Lauren Chase hit a jumper with 6:54 left, it was 67-54. Their defense allowed just eight more points as the Flyers could not buy a basket, mostly due to defensive adjustments Tsipis and company put into effect after halftime.

But, in the end, the victory was built, over forty minutes, when Jones was on or off the court, was built on the boards.

"Our team has a lot of pride in a lot of things, but I think the number one thing from a team effort standpoint is rebounding," Tsipis said. "We talked about how much better we could be because we could control that, we could rebound. It goes back to my first year when we had two six-foot kids in the post, we just felt like if we could emphasis that and control that, and the thing was, coming into halftime, we were doing a great job of that. I think whenever you get an offensive rebound, whether you score or not, it becomes back-breaking."

The game, fittingly, ended as Washington grabbed an offensive rebound of a missed Jones three-pointer with 38 seconds left, then, 25 seconds later, Schaible capped the Colonials scoring with a layup. 13 seconds later, they were champions.

While the Colonials grab the automatic NCAA Tournament bid, the Flyers are expected to receive an at-large bid at 25-6. Three of those six losses came at the hands of George Washington.

Championship Game LIVE Blog

AT THE HALF: #2 Dayton 37, #1 George Washington 29

The Flyers and Colonials sped to a dizzying start at the Richmond Coliseum, before two big fouls on A-10 Player of The Year Jonquel Jones sat her on the bench for the final ten and a half minutes of the first half.

Ally Malott took advantage, scoring a game-high 12 points and grabbing three rebounds before committing her second personal with 4:58 left. Andrea Hoover had seven points, four after Malott went to the bench, while Kelley Austria added six for Dayton.

George Washington was led by Chakecia Miller's six points, while Jones had five before leaving. Hannah Schaible added five. The Colonials outrebounded the Flyers 29-17, 15 of their rebounds were offensive, a problem that the Flyers will need to solve in the second half.

Dayton is playing for their second tournament title in four years, while George Washington is in their first tournament final in nine years.

CHAMPIONSHIP: #1 George Washington vs. #2 Dayton....

Round three.

The top-seeded Colonials, 15-1 in the Atlantic 10 regular season, have arrived at their first A-10 Tournament Championship Game since 2006. The second seed, Dayton, finished 14-2 in conference play, their only losses coming to George Washington.

As these two teams opened conference play together January 4th, they will bring the Atlantic 10 portion of the 2014-15 season to a close at the Richmond Coliseum. The winner grabs the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, but the loser is assured of an at-large berth.

George Washington wants to prove they have arrived.

Dayton wants redemption after losing on this floor as the top seed to Fordham in the title game a year ago.

Follow @TheRVASportsNet for Twitter coverage during the game. We'll have halftime and post-game reports plus post-game reaction from both teams.

 (Atlantic 10 Player of The Year Jonquel Jones of George Washington in Saturday's semifinal win over Fordham. Courtesy VCUSports.com)

Semifinal Saturday Live Blog....

SEMIFINAL #2: #2 Dayton 74, #3 Duquesne 60

Kelley Austria made her presence known at the Atlantic 10 Tournament, leading the Flyers with 20 points and four steals as Dayton advanced to their third tournament championship game in four years with a win over Duquesne.

The Dukes stayed stride for stride with the Flyers in the first half, only down two at the break at 32-30. But Saicha Grant-Allen scored all eight of her points in the second half as the Flyers began to separate themselves from Duquesne.

Deva'Nyar Workman's basket with 13:04 left cut the deficit back to two, but Dayton would pull away from there for good, using Austria free throws, a three point shot from Ally Malott, and buckets from Grant-Allen and Amber Deane to up the lead to nine at 51-42.

The rest of the way, the Dukes played from behind, and didn't have enough spark to reel in the Flyers.

Duquesne finishes Atlantic 10 play at 13-5; they are 21-10 overall, and are expected to receive a WNIT bid a week from Monday. Dayton is now 16-2 in Atlantic 10 games, 25-5 overall, and will face #1 George Washington in Sunday's 1:30pm Championship Game. The Colonials defeated the Flyers in both of their regular season meetings.


SEMIFINAL #1: #1 George Washington 72, #4 Fordham 60:

Physicality was the rule on the Richmond Coliseum court as the top-seeded Colonials fought off a pesky Fordham team that, even after losing their on-court leader to fouls with six plus minutes to go, continued to battle to the end in defense of their tournament title of a year ago.

Jonquel Jones recorded another strong double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds for George Washington, now 28-3 overall, while Hannah Schaible went for 16 as well, a perfect six-of-six from the free throw line. Chakecia Miller added eleven for the Colonials, who shot 53.8% in the second half.

Fordham shot 38% in both halves, consistent, but not good enough to overcome George Washington having four players in double figures. Tiffany Ruffin, who led the Rams with 14 points, discussed in the post-game press conference the importance of keeping her teammates on the court focused even after the loss of Tapio.

Samantha Clark led Fordham in the first half, but picked up her third personal foul to end her flow of offensive production, and, as head coach Stephanie Gaitley pointed out after the game, forced her Rams to "go small" which was difficult against the tall powers of Jones and Caira Washington, who had ten points and eight rebounds.

The Rams are 20-11 and likely will get a bid to the WNIT. George Washington now moves to their first Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship game since 2006 against either Dayton or Duquesne.


SEMIFINAL #1 AT THE HALF: #1 George Washington 33, #4 Fordham 25:

An extremely physical game has taken its toll on the defending tournament champions as Fordham is saddled with major foul trouble at intermission. Samantha Clark, who leads the Rams with nine points, also has three fouls. G'mrice Davis also has three fouls while Emily Tapi and Hannah Missry each have two. Danielle Burns has six points and two rebounds off the bench for Fordham.

The top-seeded Colonials are led by Atlantic 10 Player of The Year Jonquel Jones, closing in on a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. Chakecia Miller has seven points, while fellow First Teamer Caira Washington has six points and six boards.

The winner advances to Sunday's 1:30pm Championship Game, where an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament will be up for grabs. Awaiting this winner, the winner of the second semifinal between Dayton and Duquesne.

NOTE: Three of the four teams in this year's semifinals were also in the semifinals last year in the inaugural tournament held at the Coliseum. Last season, Dayton eliminated George Washington and Fordham defeated St. Bonaventure on Semifinal Saturday. Duquesne will make its first semifinal appearance since 2006 later today.

Semifinal Saturday Schedule

(Games seen locally on CBS Sports Network, Comcast 732/854 HD, FiOS 94/594 HD, DirecTV 221, Dish 158)....

#1 George Washington vs. #4 Fordham, 11AM

#2 Dayton vs. #3 Duquesne, 1:30PM

Follow us on Twitter at @TheRVASportsNet for updates, scores and more from the Richmond Coliseum!

Quarterfinal Friday LIVE Blog....

Updates from the Richmond Coliseum at halftime and following each of the four quarterfinals...

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.

QUARTERFINAL FRIDAY SCHEDULE...

And remember, admission all day today to the Richmond Coliseum is FREE thanks to "Snow Day--No Pay" from the Atlantic 10 Conference!

11AM: #1 George Washington vs. #9 Saint Louis (SLU the only team to beat GW in regular season)

2PM: #5 Richmond vs. #4 Fordham (Spiders seek to avenge OT loss in NYC January 4th)

4:30PM: #2 Dayton vs. #7 Saint Joseph's (Preseason #1 Dayton looks to advance)

7PM: #3 Duquesne vs. #6 Rhode Island

A GREAT day of hoops and you can enjoy it for free!  If you come, be sure to tweet to us using the hashtag #A10WBB at any of our Twitter channels:

@TheRVASportsNet
@hanoversports
@henricosports
@cfieldsports

And put your pictures on Instagram with the same hashtag!  Find us there at "rvasportsnetwork"!

"SNOW DAY, NO PAY": Friday Quarterfinals!!

Just in from the Atlantic 10 Conference:

Once the Snow & Ice Melts … Come Watch A-10 Women’s Basketball All Day Friday at No Charge

RICHMOND, Va. – Despite the wintery weather, the 2015 Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Championship is here in Richmond.

When it becomes safe to travel, come over to the Richmond Coliseum to enjoy a full day of women’s basketball featuring great competition, on court contests for A-10 prize packs, t-shirt tosses, appearances by the Zooperstars during halftime and lots of family fun.

Tomorrow is “Snow Day, No Pay” at the Richmond Coliseum. Games tip off at 11:00 a.m., followed by a contest at 2:00 p.m. which will feature hometown Richmond Spiders taking on defending A-10 Champion Fordham.  The day wraps up with games at 4:30 and 7:00 p.m.  So get out of the cold and your house and come enjoy a great day of basketball action with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. 

Second Round LIVE Blog....

NOTE: We will update this page throughout today with Second Round Tournament updates at the half and after each of the four games.

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.

Wednesday First Round Finals, Thursday Second Round Schedule

FIRST ROUND:
UMass 55, St. Bonaventure 49
La Salle 74, Davidson 63

SECOND ROUND (Thursday):
#9 Saint Louis vs. #8 VCU, 11:30am
#13 UMass vs. #5 Richmond, 2pm
#10 George Mason vs. #7 Saint Joseph's, 4:30pm
#11 La Salle vs. #6 Rhode Island, 7pm

COVERAGE: Follow @TheRVASportsNet on Twitter for live updates all day Thursday from second round action.  Game recaps and player/coach reaction here on our website all day as well.

2015 Awards....

Jonquel Jones of regular season champion George Washington takes home Atlantic 10 Player of The Year honors Tuesday, while her coach, Jonathan Tsipis, was honored as Coach of The Year.

The Colonials went 15-1 in the conference season and are the top seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which begins Wednesday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum.

Here are the other honorees:

Freshman of The Year: Charise Wilson, Rhode Island
Sixth Player of The Year: Amber Deane, Dayton
Most Improved Player: Kim Pierre-Louis, Massachusetts

First Team:
Jonquel Jones, George Washington
Caira Washington, George Washington
Natasha Cloud, Saint Joseph's
Andrea Hoover, Dayton
Ally Malott, Dayton

Second Team:
Taylor Brown, George Mason
Kim Pierre-Louis, Massachusetts
Katie Healy, St. Bonaventure
Janelle Hubbard, Richmond
April Robinson, Duquesne

Third Team:
Charise Wilson, Rhode Island
Adaeze Alaeze, VCU
Genevieve Okoro, Richmond
Sadie Stipanovich, Saint Louis
Emily Tapio, Fordham

2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament Schedule

Here it is!  The schedule for the 2015 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament starting Wednesday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum:

First Round (Wednesday March 4th):

#12 St. Bonaventure vs. #13 UMass, 4:30pm
#11 La Salle vs. #14 Davidson, 7pm

Second Round (Thursday March 5th):

#8 VCU vs. #9 Saint Louis, 11:30am
#5 Richmond vs. #12/#13 winner, 2pm
#7 Saint Joseph's vs. #10 George Mason, 4:30pm
#6 Rhode Island vs. #11/#14 winner, 7pm

Quarterfinals (Friday March 6th on American Sports Network):

#1 George Washington vs #8/#9 winner, 11am
#4 Fordham vs. 2pm Thursday winner, 2pm
#2 Dayton vs. #7/#10 winner, 4:30pm
#3 Duquesne vs. 7pm Thursday winner, 7pm

Semifinals (Saturday March 7th on CBS Sports Network):

11am
1:30pm

Championship (Sunday, March 8th on ESPNU):

1pm