VERAfied: Freshman forward shows 3-point stroke

VCU’s Vera Chistova took about three games of Division-I basketball experience and a seven-point scoring average with her to the Siegel Center on Sunday when the Rams took on Richmond.

So when the redshirt freshman finished the first half with four points on 2-for-4 shooting, she was actually on pace to up her average.

But the streak she went on at the start the second half not only gave her stats a boost, it lifted the Rams out of a 10-point hole and back into the battle with their cross-town rival.

Chistova went bucket for bucket with Richmond’s Kate Flavin for about four minutes. The ball swung Chistova’s way and she nailed a three on the wing. Then she knocked down another from the corner that cut Richmond’s lead to six. She caught an outlet pass from Natalia Oehninger, streaked down the sideline and finished the breakaway with a reverse layup.

The free throws she sank with about seven minutes left closed the gap to 57-54 and gave Chistova 18 points for the game-a career high.

For her efforts, the 5-foot-10 forward split the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Week honors with James Madison’s Tamera Young after just four games with the Rams.

VCU head coach Beth Cunningham said Chistova gave the Rams a much needed scoring boost against a Richmond that’s used to putting up about 73 points a game.

The Spiders rang up 76 in a win over the Rams, and with VCU (2-2) looking to turn things around on Sunday against George Washington (4-2) at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, Chistova may need to keep up that Rookie of the Week performance.

After hitting six points against Belmont and two in the home opener against Siena, Chistova broke out for 13 points in the Rams 69-56 win Radford. She hit five of her nine shots, and both of her three point attempts.

The 18-year-old adds a dimension to a team that shoots 42 percent from the floor, but just 32 percent from beyond the arc. Chistova is shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range–second on the Rams roster only to Meagan Evan (.429)–even though she missed the first six treys she took this season.

The St. Petersburg, Russia native hit two of four 3-point attempts against the Spiders, giving her an average of 1.33 made threes per game, the eighth best clip in the CAA.

The downside is that just Chistova is showing her stroke, the Rams are running into a Colonials team that has opponents shooting 30 percent from three-point land.

The upside is that Chistova took three games of experience with her into last Sunday’s game and walked out with a career high.

Who knows what she’ll do with four.