Rams Thrash Hofstra 72-44 in Season Opener

Image Source: VCU Women's Basketball Twitter Page

The VCU Women’s basketball started their 2023-24 season tonight as they faced the Hofstra Pride and won 72-44. This was the 21st meeting between these two schools; the last time they played was in 2012 when the Rams won 76-60.

Lucía Sotelo Miguez put the Rams on the scoreboard to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. Hofstra countered with an 11-7 lead with 5:41 in the 1st Quarter. Jennifer Ezeh scored to give the Rams a 15-13 lead with 1:53 remaining in the 1st quarter. The Pride went cold as they went scoreless in the final 3 minutes of the 1st quarter as the Rams led 18-13. The second quarter saw the Rams maintain the lead as they went on a 7-0 Run with 2:49 left in the 2nd Quarter to give the Rams a 30-19 lead. Rams went to halftime with a 37-22 lead

The Rams lead grew to 18 points (40-22, 9:11 in the 3rd quarter). The Rams ended the 3rd quarter with a 51-34 lead. The lead grew to double digits in the 4th as Mary-Anna Asare's layup put the Rams 57-36 with 5:44 left. The lead grew to 30 points (72-42 with .43 Seconds remaining). Hofstra guard Tionna Baker hit a jumper with 27 seconds remaining as this would be the final points scored in the game!

Player of the Game

Mary-Anna Asare

14 Points, 4 Reb, 1 Assist

By the Numbers

14: Points Scored by Mary-Anna Asare (Team High)

30: Biggest Lead for the Rams

42: Amount of Rebounds by the Rams

47%: Field Goal Range for the Rams

57% : 3 Point Shooting Percentage

At the Podium

After tonight’s victory, we spoke with Head Coach Beth O’Boyle, Mary-Anna Asare & Timaya Lewis-Eutsey

What’s next?

The Rams head down 64 East as they will face William & Mary on Friday. The Rams will return home on November 14th as they will face East Carolina. Tip-off is 6 pm.

Rams Fall 76-65 in Odom's debut

The Ryan Odom era officially began tonight as the VCU Rams fell to the McNeese State Cowboys 76-65. Odom, who was the coach at Utah State where the Aggies (26-9 record) were ranked 16th in offensive production last year. Odom also was the head coach of UMBC when his 16th-seeded team beat the #1 seed UVA in 2018

NCAA Tournament. McNeese State is led by Coach Will Wade ( Served as VCU assistant HC from 2009-2013 & as Head Coach from 2015-2017), who is currently serving a 10-game suspension. Brandon Chambers (2011 VCU Graduate) served as interim coach in the season opener vs the Rams.

The Rams got on the board 1st as Max Shulga hit a 3-pointer,39 seconds into the game. The Rams took an early lead but, the Cowboys took their 1st lead (8-6, 15:22 1st half), which was part of a 12-0 run that ended as Max Shulga scored to cut the Cowboys lead to 4 (13-9 14:17 1st half). The Cowboys had their most significant lead (41-21: 2:21 remaining in the first half). The Rams ended the half on an 8-0 run to cut the Cowboys lead to 12 (41-29).

Max Shulga's 3-pointer to start the 2nd half continued their run (11-0). With 15:01 remaining in the game the Rams cut the lead to 8 points (48-59). Cowboys answered back and countered the runs as they kept a double-digit lead for most of the 2nd half. The Rams had 2 scoring droughts (Both were over two minutes) while the Cowboys sustained their lead. The Rams ended their scoring woes as they went on a 6-0 run with 3:50 remaining to cut the lead to 10 (54-64). Alphonzo “Fats” Billups III sank a 3-pointer with 1:58 left to cut the Cowboys lead to 7. The Cowboys countered and held their lead as they won 76-65

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Player of the game

MAX SHULGA

22 Points 4 Assists 2 Rebound

By the Numbers

1: 1st Meeting between both schools

17: Amount of Bench points scored by the Rams

22: Points Scored by Rams Guard Max Shulga

23: Points Scored by Cowboys Guard Shahada Wells (lead Team)

30.6 %: Rams Shooting Percentage behind the Arc

7,637: Game attendance for tonight’s game (7th straight sellout)

At the Podium

After Tonight's loss, we spoke with Max Shulga and Head Coach Ryan Odom

What’s next

The Rams will return to the STU on Friday as they face off vs Samford. The tipoff is 7 pm.

Coleman's career day leads the Spiders back to .500

(Image Source Richmond Spiders Football Twitter Account )

(Richmond, VA 10-7-23)| The Richmond Spiders rebound after a tough loss last week to beat the Maine Black Bears 42-31. Maine came into Robins Stadium with a 56-28 victory over Stony Brook last week, while Richmond was looking to bounce back from a 31-14 loss to Hampton. This was the 30th matchup between these teams (who started this series in 1984) as the Spiders led the series 15-14 (Prior to today’s matchup). The main storyline in this game was the first start for Spiders Freshman Quarterback Camden Coleman, who had a career day & tied Kyle Lauletta for most Touchdowns in a game (6).

The first quarter of this matchup saw 433 yards of total offense combined. The Black Bears took control of the game as Quarterback Derek Robertson connected with Joe Gillette for a 75-yard TD to put Maine up 7-0 (11:46 1st qrt) . In less than 3 minutes the Black Bears struck again on a trick play as Wide Receiver Montingo Moss connected to Wide Receiver Tavion Banks for a 24-yard TD to put Maine up 14-0 (8:55 1st qrt) . Following Maine’s possession the Spiders orchestrated a 2-play, 75-yard drive as Camden Coleman threw his 1st Td of the day (Finished with 6 TDs) to Wide Reciever Nick DeGennaro for 65 yards to put the Spiders on the board, 7-14 (8:21 1st qrt). Cody Williams kicked a 23-yard FG to give Maine a 17-7 lead (3:09 1st qrt). The Spiders counted as Camden Coleman connected to Nick DeGennaro on a 55-yard TD to cut Maine’s lead 14-17 (1:23 1st quarter).

The Spiders took the lead in the 2nd quarter as Camden Coleman connected with Quaney Veney for a 13-yard TD to give the Spiders a 21-17 lead (11:43 in the 2nd quarter). The Spiders extended their lead to 28-17 as Camden Coleman connected with Nick DeGennaro for 13 yards (6:37 2nd Qrt) . Derek Robertson connected with Joe Gillette on a 50-yard reception to cut the Spiders' lead to 4 (28-24, 5:04 2nd qrt). Before halftime, Camden Coleman connected with Freshman Landon Ellis for an 11-yard reception with 53 seconds left before the half. Coleman's 5 TDs in the first half set the record for most touchdowns by a freshman in a half.

In 3rd quarter the Spiders tacked on another touchdown as Camden Coleman threw for his 6th touchdown of the day as he tied former Spiders's QB Kyle Lauletta ( 9/16/17 vs Howard) to give the Spiders a 42-24 lead (7:04 3rd qtr). Nick DeGennaro was the recipient of Coleman's 6th TD, Which DeGennaro scored his 3rd TD of the day ( Tied the Spiders record for most receiving touchdowns in a game). The Black Bears tacked on another TD as Anthony Harris connected with Joe Gillette to cut the lead to 11 (42-31, 4:37 4th Qtr) which the Spiders held the lead until the end of the game.

With the Win, the Spiders move to 3-3 (2-1 CAA). The Spiders travel next week to face Rhode Island. Richmond will return to Robins Stadium on October 28th as they will face Campbell, The Kickoff for this matchup is at

3:30 pm.