Photo GalleryRICHMOND, Va. -- Senior
Taryn Durant entered Friday's Atlantic 10 quarterfinal for the first time at the 13:09 mark of the second half with the Fordham women's basketball team trailing Richmond, 29-24. She played approximately the next 13 minutes and left the game with 0:00 left on the clock, as her free throw with 1.3 seconds propelled the Rams to a thrilling 46-45 victory over the fifth-seeded Spiders inside the Richmond Coliseum.
With the victory, Fordham advances to Saturday's semifinals against top-seeded and #21/19 George Washington at 11 a.m.; extends its winning streak to three games;and improves to 20-10 on the season, while Richmond falls 18-13 overall and awaits word on a NIT invitation.
The Rams clung to a 45-43 lead after freshman
G'mrice Davis converted 1-of-2 free throws with 20 seconds remaining, before a foul was called on Fordham with 10.2 seconds left, sending the Spiders' Genevieve Okoro to the line, where she sank both freebies to force the sixth tie of the game, 45-45.
Head Coach
Stephanie Gaitley called timeout at half court with seven ticks left to draw up a final play. Durant took the ball in the back court and dribbled towards the top of the key. She then found an opening down the right side of the lane and drove to the hoop, where she was hacked on the arm by Richmond's Lauren Tolson.
Durant, who had not attempted a free throw in over two weeks and came in shooting just over 50 percent, willed the first one after it thudded off the back of the iron and dropped in. She then missed the second intentionally, as Richmond had no timeouts left and 1.2 seconds to miraculously win the game.
The Rams overcame many obstacles throughout the contest. After starting the game with a 12-2 run over the first 8:15, the Spiders fought back and took advantage of senior
Emily Tapio's third foul with 8:31 left in the opening half. Fordham still led by five at 20-15 when sophomore
Danielle Burns went almost coast-to-coast after a steal. But the Rams could not buy a bucket the rest of the half, and Richmond knotted the game at 20-20 at intermission. Junior
Samantha Clark also picked up her third foul at the 2:27 mark
The scoring drought continued for Fordham, and the Spiders quickly scored the first seven points after the break and took their largest lead of the game, 27-20, capping a 12-0 run, before sophomore
Hannah Missry's bucket with 16:21 to go stopped the bleeding.
Still trailing by seven at 29-22, the Rams started their move to climb back into the game. Tapio scored six of the next eight points to slice the deficit to 31-28. Sophomore
Danielle Padovano, who delivered the game-winning three-pointer against the Spiders back on Jan. 4, drilled a triple from the left side to tie the game at 31-31. Clark then buried a trey ball, and Davis' jumper from the lane capped a 14-2 flurry and produced a 36-31 advantage with 7:29 remaining.
But Richmond battled back and got to within 38-36, before Fordham faced another challenge when Tapio fouled out with 4:44 to go. The Spiders then regained the lead, 40-39, on Janelle Hubbard's three-pointer, but Missry found Clark on a beautiful backdoor cut to quickly put the Rams back in front, 41-40, with 3:42 left.
The lead flip-flopped four more times over the next three and half minutes, with Ruffin dishing off to Davis, who gave Fordham a 44-43 lead with 1:13 remaining.
With the score still the same, Ruffin was charged with her fifth foul on a tough call off a missed shot, sending Okro to the free throw line for a one-and-one with 24 seconds left. She missed the front end, Davis corralled the rebound and was fouled, which set up the exciting finish.
Fordham finished at 36.2 percent (17-of-47) from the field and just 2-of-9 from distance while outscoring the Spiders, 22-8, in the paint. Richmond, meanwhile, struggled from the field (30.2 percent) and connected on 5-of-17 from behind the arc. The Spiders also made just 8-of-14 free throws, while the Rams sunk 10-of-13.
Fordham also narrowly lost the rebounding battle, 37-35, including 13-7 on the offensive glass, as Richmond held a commanding 21-4 advantage on second-chance points.
Tapio led the way with 14 points and five rebounds, while Ruffin added eight points, five boards and a game-high five assists. Clark pulled down a team-high six rebounds, and Burns finished with five boards and three steals.
Micaela Parson paced the Spiders with 12 points, four boards and two steals off the bench, while Janelle Hubbard finished with 11 points. Okrooro added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds for Richmond.
Saturday's semifinal matchup with George Washington will be televised on CBS Sports Network at 11 a.m.
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