Richmond Public Schools packed the Stu for the VCU Women’s Basketball game against Coppin State and gave the Rams a warm welcome for their 2015-2016 season opener. Head Coach Beth O’Boyle returned for her second season with the Rams looking to maintain a perfect record versus CSU and add a 10th win in the series. It didn’t take long for the Rams to go on the run and take and maintain a strong lead against their MEAC opponent.
The Rams returned several players including Adaeze Alaeze who earned All-Atlantic 10 Third team honors for her career highs in scoring (10.2 PPG) and rebounds (6.9 RPG) during the 2014-2015 season. Alaeze made a solid contribution with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. VCU had 3 players deliver double digits in their first game of the season. Ashley Pegram led with 13 points, followed by Chadarryl Clay at 12, and Keira Robinson with 10. Curteeona Brelove led the Rams with 10 rebounds and added 8 points after spending most of last season on the bench following an injury and Keira Robinson gave VCU 7 assists to round out the stat leaders.
In a change to previous seasons there are now 4 10 minute quarters to make things a little different on the court. The Rams dominated the first holding CSU to just 6 points and taking a 19 point lead in the early minutes of play. VCU flexed early exceeding 50% in all shooting metrics and getting 6 Rams on the board. CSU struggled shooting at 16.7% from the field but pulling 50% from the line. VCU held a decisive lead 25 – 6.
The second period the Rams turned it up and extended their lead to 30 points. CSU showed a little more grit adding 8 points, but VCU continued to dominate the glass in scoring and rebounds. VCU added another 20 points and held strong at 44 – 14.
In the third period the Eagles were determined to keep the Rams out of that 30 point advantage. They were successfully in knocking them back a few times thanks to a little back and forth. VCU slowed down just enough for the lead to come down to 25 and give CSU a little hope of momentum. The Rams added 11 points while CSU added 16 in the first and only period where the Eagles would outscore VCU. VCU maintained a 25 point advantage ending 55 – 30.
The final period saw the Rams biggest lead of 32 and they were able to claim a 31 point season opener victory and improve to 10 – 0 in the series with Coppin State. VCU is on the road for their next 2 games and return to the Stu to face Campbell November 24th.
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