Coach Beth O’Boyle celebrated her 100th career win and the Rams continued their perfect record at home (5-0) for her inaugural season at VCU with a 64-34 win over UTPA. The Rams dominated the Broncs the majority of the game with 1 tie and 2 brief 1 point leads (3-2 and 19-18) for UTPA. VCU was up by 5 at the half, and UTPA came in hot early on their return but the Rams quickly doused the spark.
The first half wasn’t quite as fast paced as previous games, but the Rams showcased a new confidence and had some great moments during the first 20 minutes. Early on VCU made great use of screens to create shooting opportunities for their offense. They executed well and were able to move the ball around to create open shots. The Rams were also efficient in rebounding both offensively and defensively with 27 total rebounds in the first half. There were a couple of really great shots including a reverse under the basket bucket from Adaeze Alaeze and 3 point shots from both Keira Robinson and Chadarryl Clay.
UTPA started the second half with a burst adding 4 points in the first minute but VCU answered both and continued with a run that gave them an 18 point advantage. It would take the Broncs almost 7 minutes to get their next basket while the Rams were dominating the court. VCU held UTPA to just 19 points in the second half and the Broncs shot at 17.2% while the Rams were at 51.7% in the last 20 minutes.
There were 4 Rams in double digit scoring with Isis Thorpe leading at 14 points, Adaeze Alaeze with 12, and Keira Robinson and Chadarryl Clay each adding 10 points.
Thorpe and Camille Calhoun led the team with 8 rebounds each and Melanie Royster contributed 4 blocks on the defensive effort.
The win extends the Rams home streak to 9 and their next game will be at Coppin State on Dec 28th at 3:00 pm.
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