'Cats Fall 87-68 to Spiders, Murray 2nd All-Time in Points

Saturday, December 28

Davidson, N.C.

2:00 p.m.

Davidson College

5-8

Richmond

6-7

Richmond

Davidson

Hannah Early had her fourth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 21.

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

'Cats Fall 87-68 to Spiders, Murray 2nd All-Time in Points

12/28/2013 5:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score (html)
Game Highlights
Photo Gallery
DavidsonPhotos.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Laura Murray and Hannah Early combined for 41 points, but Richmond countered with five double-figure scorers in taking the first-time matchup between both schools, 87-68, Saturday afternoon at John M. Belk Arena in women's basketball.

The Wildcats (5-8) wrapped up their longest homestand since the 1998-99 season with a 3-3 record, but dropped the last two games.

Richmond (6-7) was led by Keri Soppe's 18 points, followed by Olivia Healy (16), Kristina King (14), Janelle Hubbard (14) and Genevieve Okoro (11), who each scored in double digits.

Murray, who moved into second place all-time in scoring in program history, hit the 20-point mark for the fourth game in a row with an even 20. She scored 19 in the second half as Davidson scored 47 points as a team.

Early led all scorers with 21 points, one off her career-high, while Shneeka Center chipped in 10 points and seven boards off the bench.

Murray and Early tried to keep Davidson close in the second half, helping the Wildcats to get within three points after trailing 39-24 in the early part of the half. A pair of Murray free throws got the deficit to under 10 (42-34) and Early later followed with two of her own to make it 44-38 with 12:47 left.

A jumper by Early at the 12:05 mark made it 45-40, and then a layup from Rachel Piles brought the 'Cats to within three (47-44) with under 11 minutes to go.

Davidson stayed within five points over the next few minutes, but Richmond kept countering the Wildcats' scoring and pushed the lead back to double digits at 68-56 on a 14-7 run topped off by a Soppe three-ball with 6:16 on the clock.

Two Early free throws later would make it 70-61 with 4:32 remaining, but the Spiders finished out the game outscoring Davidson 17-7 for the final of 87-68.

The Wildcats shot 53.6 percent in the second half to close at 44.2 percent, but Richmond hit 55.2 percent of its second-half shots and closed at 49.2 percent. It also went 17-for-20 at the charity stripe in the half and concluded the game at 20-for-24.

The first half saw Davidson turn the ball over 16 times with Richmond turning those into 15 points on its way to a 34-21 halftime lead. The 'Cats were also hurt by a seven-minute scoreless stretch that saw them fall behind 22-10 midway through the half.

Davidson will start the new calendar year by hitting the road after their long homestand, starting at Samford, Jan. 4, and then going to Chattanooga, Jan. 6.

GAME NOTES: Murray's 20-point outing was her ninth of the season and 26th of her career … the senior moved into second place all-time in scoring, passing Davidson Hall of Fame member Jennifer O'Brien with 1,519 points … Murray has scored in double figures in all 13 games this year ... Davidson wrapped up its non-conference schedule at 3-8.