December 30, 2008

RORIE, RAMS EARN HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY OVER AMERICAN, 67-63
VCU earns sixth straight overall and ninth straight home win
Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – The Colonial Athletic Association portion of the 2008-2009 Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball schedule does not start until Monday evening.

The conference game atmosphere, however, started Tuesday evening at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The Rams faced a tough American squad that had won five of it’s last six games, but VCU fought hard for its sixth straight overall and ninth straight home victory, 69-67.

“American was a hot team coming into tonight and we knew it was going to be a great test for us heading into our conference schedule,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “It was great to see our kids come out and fight and battle to find a way to win against a very good team.”

Junior La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.) led three Rams in double-figures with 17 points and six rebounds, while senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) (left) notched her 42nd career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore Jessica Taylor (Northumberland, Va.) continued her recent offensive surge with 11 points and three assists.

“It’s really been my teammates that have been key to my success offensively,” Taylor said. “[Rorie] and [Waller] have really helped me improve my all-around game and that’s been great.”

It marked third straight game with at least three different Rams in double-figures.

“We continue to get quality contributions from so many different players and tonight was no different with Ebony, JT and D all coming off the bench and playing great games,” Cunningham said. “Our kids continue to work hard and develop quickly. It will be critical to our success down the stretch to have so many options.”

A three-pointer from Michelle Kirk helped the Eagles jump out to an early four-point advantage, 11-7, with 16:48 showing on the first half clock.

The lead would change seven times over the first four minutes of play, from then on; it was a half of runs.

Eight points from Rorie ignited an 18-4 run by the Black and Gold to claim a 25-15 lead with nine minutes left before the intermission.

Liz Leer’s lay-up with 5:24 left in the first half capped off an 11-0 run by American as the Eagles reclaimed the lead at 26-25.

Five points from senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) sparked a 12-4 Black and Gold run that capped off the first half as VCU held a 37-30 halftime advantage.

American would come out of the halftime break aggressive with an 11-3 run capped of by a fast-break lay-up by Kristin Coles to grab a 41-40 lead with 15:43 to play.

Neither team would maintain more than a four-point lead for the next 13 minutes with seven ties and 10 lead changes in the second half.

Hollingsworth would step up late in the second half with the Rams down 61-60 by scoring six straight points and giving VCU a 66-61 advantage with less than two minutes to play.

“She [Hollingsworth] really responded in the second half for us,” Cunningham said. “We challenged her at halftime to step up and she really did that and accepted the challenge and was key for us down the stretch.”

The Black and Gold defense would lock down allowing just two points over the final 3:43 to preserve the hard-fought 67-63 victory.

“Defense is what has to be first for us this year,” Taylor said. “We know that everything starts on the defensive end. The energy on the defensive end is really what sparks our offense.”

VCU dominated the boards to a tune of 42-33, including 26 offensive boards. Hollingsworth grabbed 14 boards (seven offensive), while junior D’Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) (right) continued her great play on the glass with eight boards, four of them offensive.

The Rams open up their CAA slate on Monday evening against the Monarchs of Old Dominion, winners of 17 straight conference titles.

“They are the champs and we are looking forward to getting our chance to do battle with them,” Taylor said.