Lady Rams Falls To Richmond

January 13, 2010

By james mcdougald of Purnell Swett High School


Rockingham-

The Richmond Senior women's basketball team kept rolling Tuesday night at home, easily outdistancing Purnell Swett, 64-37 in a Southeastern Conference contest at Raider Gymnasium.

The Lady Raiders improved to 11-1 overall on the 2009-10 season (2-0 SEC).

This one wasn't in doubt for long. Richmond gave up the first bucket of the night, then responded with a 9-0 run to set the tone for the game.

Purnell Swett (5-8, 0-2) had an early answer for the Raiders' spurt, ripping off an 8 -0 run of their own to get to within one at 9-8.

That would be as close as the Lady Rams got for the rest of the night.

Richmond promptly countered the Purnell Swett run with a 7-0 spurt to close the quarter, ignited by a LaShey Brown trifecta.

The Lady Raiders kept up the offensive onslaught in the second, opening the stanza with another 7-0 run.

Altogether, Richmond kept Purnell Swett scoreless for nearly six minutes.

It was just the kind of defensive effort interim Richmond coach Nellie Harrington likes to see.

"We've been talking about stepping up our defense, and we did that tonight," Harrington said.

Indeed, the Lady Raiders got most of their defensive work done in the first half without going to their patented full-court press.

For more of the opening 16 minutes, the Lady Raiders stayed in their 2-3 zone, occasionally pressing the ball but content for the most part to play zone defense.

Richmond led 30-13 at intermission.

In the second half, it was more of the same, as Richmond pushed its lead out to 18 points at the third stop.

The Lady Raiders expanded their advantage to 24 with a 9-3 run to open the fourth period. Purnell Swett, playing against the Richmond reserves, was able to cut the Richmond lead to 17 with a 7-0 run in the game's closing minutes.

But the Lady Raiders closed the game with an explanation point, finishing with a 10-0 run.

Turnovers and trouble getting back on transition plagued Purnell Swett, according to head coach Angie Faulkner.

"We looked tired out there tonight," Faulkner said.

"They beat us in transition all night long."

Still, Faulkner was pleased with the effort of Kayla Lewis, who led the Lady Rams with 19 points.

Richmond, meanwhile, was led by Brown and Shaquitta Covington, who had 15 points apiece.

After starting for the past two games, Covington came off the bench and still scored in double figures.

All of the Lady Raiders got into the contest, and Harrington was especially pleased with the play of Brittany Hudson, who had eight points. "Brittany did a real nice job for us off the bench," Harrington said.

The Lady Raiders return to SEC action Friday night at home, when they host area rival Lumberton.