BALANCED RAMS BOUNCE BACK WITH 75-61 WIN OVER TRIBE
Four players tally double-digits in crucial road win
1-29-09
Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Sometimes it’s just about getting back to the basics.

The Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball team did just that on Thursday evening as a balanced scoring attack and a stifling defense led the Rams to a crucial 75-61 road win over the Tribe of William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association action.

”One of the things we talked about doing was getting back to what we try to do night in and night out and that is having a workhorse mentality,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “Coming off a tough loss at Wilmington, it was great to see us bounce back with a great road win. It was just an outstanding team effort.”

With the win tonight and losses by James Madison and Old Dominion, the Black & Gold find themselves in a four-way tie with the Dukes, Monarchs and Drexel, all with a 6-2 mark in conference play. VCU’s overall mark improves to 16-4, while the Tribe falls to 10-9 and 3-5 in CAA play.

Four different players scored in the first three-plus minutes led by senior Quanitra Hollingsworth’s (Chesapeake, Va.) four points as the Black & Gold ran out to a 10-2 advantage.

William & Mary would not go away as Tiffany Benson sparked a 9-5 run to bring the Tribe within four at 15-11 with 11:57 left in the first half.

The defense took over as the score remained 15-11 until the 8:22 mark when freshman Courtney Hurt (Conyers, Ga.) knocked down two free-throws to push the lead to six.

After the Tribe poured in five straight points to get within one, the VCU bench took over scoring nine straight points between Hurt, junior Stephanie Solomon (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Ebony Patterson (Chesterfield, Va.) to give the Rams a 31-22 lead with just over a minute to play.

VCU came roaring out of the locker room with a 20-10 run capped off by a beautiful dish from Hurt to Hollingsworth as the Rams held a 51-37 lead with 12:18 left in the contest.

Benson and Kelly Heath kept the Tribe in the contest as they ran off a 12-2 spurt to get within four at 53-49 with 8:53 to play.

Six points from Hollingsworth sparked a 13-3 VCU run as the lead reached 14, the biggest of the contest.

Freshman Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kan.) capped off a stellar evening with a steal and a fancy juke move around a defender to put the game out of reach and help the Black & Gold hold on for the 75-61 road victory.

Hollingsworth led the way offensively for the Rams as the veteran poured in 16 points and six rebounds, while classmate Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) chipped in 14 points on the night.

Junior D’Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) continued her strong play with 14 points and seven rebounds, while classmate La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.) added 11.

Hurt finished with a career-high 10 rebounds, while also tallying six points.

” We really had great minutes from a ton of different kids tonight,” Cunningham said. “Not only Jen [Lane] and Courtney [Hurt], but [Solomon] was great off the bench. We got a lot of key contributions in a big win and that team aspect is going to be big for us down the stretch.”

Benson led all scorers with 19 points and 14 boards. Kell and Heath each added 11 points apiece for the Tribe.