Basketball seasons in review

For the first time ever, the VCU men’s and women’s basketball teams qualified
for the postseason in the same year. The men’s team finished the season 24-8 and
became the first team in the history of the CAA to win 31 conference games in
two regular seasons. The women reached new heights with more wins in a season
than ever before at 26-8. Their success earned them a win against Charlotte in
the WNIT.

HEADLINES

Men claim conference crown

For the second time in as many years,
the men’s basketball team won the CAA
regular-season title. It was the fourth time
the team had the best conference record
since joining the CAA in the 1995-1996
season. The Rams’ 15-3 record won the
league by a three-game margin, the largest
since UNC Wilmington accomplished
the same feat in 2002-2003.

Women achieve highest win total in program history

Things finally clicked for the Rams
this season as they went 26-8. First-year
associate head coach Curt Kassab helped
the team defensively, and the team
allowed just 56.4 points per game. The
Rams’ success nearly resulted in a CAA
Tournament championship, but the team
fell just short of beating Old Dominion,
which has won 17 straight conference
tourneys. The Rams were overlooked
by the NCAA selection committee for
an at-large bid but earned a trip to the
WNIT. The team won 80-67, giving
the program its first-ever win after the
conference tournament before falling at
Michigan.

Men’s team qualifies for NIT

The men qualified for the postseason
for the fourth time in five years. The
team earned an automatic bid to the
NIT by winning the CAA regular-season
championship, but had its season
ended in an 80-77 loss to University of
Alabama-Birmingham at the Stuart C.
Siegel Center. The Rams have not won
a NIT game since 1988.

Maynor named CAA player of the year

Junior Eric Maynor (Raeford, N.C./
Westover) was voted the preseason
player of the year in October following
his first-team all-conference performance
in 2006-2007. He followed through,
averaging 17.9 points (claiming third
in the CAA and 5.39 assists (good for
second) and won player of the year for
the season. Maynor also earned a spot
on the all-academic second team.

Two Rams named to all defensive first-team

Senior Jamal Shuler (Jacksonville,
N.C./Jacksonville) and freshman Larry
Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie)
highlighted the defensive efforts of the
Rams, who allowed a conference-low
57.2 points per game. Shuler guarded
the league’s top scoring guards, such as
Antoine Agudio and Folarin Campbell,
and tied for eighth place in the CAA with
1.67 steals per game. Sanders was 10th
in the nation but first among freshmen
with 2.97 blocks per game.

Women sweep James Madison

The Rams downed the Dukes 61-60
and 62-56 in the regular season but
finished 13-5 in the CAA – one game back
of JMU – and couldn’t use the benefit
of the tiebreaker. In the conference
tournament semifinals, the Rams showed
they didn’t need the higher seed. VCU
eliminated JMU 69-60 to complete the
sweep. The Jan. 20 win in Harrisonburg
snapped the Dukes’ 20-game home
winning streak versus CAA foes.

Puerto Rico Tournament unkind
to Rams

After a 1-point win over Houston,
the Rams lost to Miami and Arkansas
for the first back-to-back losses under
coach Anthony Grant.

ESPN2 jinx?

Dating back to a BracketBuster
loss Feb. 17, 2007, to Bradley,
the Rams have lost five out of six
games televised on ESPN2. VCU
has lost just five other games in that
time frame that were not shown
on that platform. The lone win on
ESPN2 came Feb. 23 at Akron,
which was also a BracketBuster.

Old Dominion earns first win in Siegel Center

Since the Siegel Center first
opened its doors in 1999, Old
Dominion had gone winless in
men’s basketball-0-8 to be exact.
Things changed in 2008. Feb. 16,
the Rams gave up a 6-point lead in
the final two minutes and lost to
the Monarchs 67-66 for the first
time in their current arena.

Hollingsworth out for season

First-team all-CAA member
Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake/
Great Bridge) underwent
season-ending surgery for her
Achilles’ heel, which she tore
Feb. 14 in a game against UNC
Wilmington. The junior had
averaged 14.7 points and 9.6
rebounds through 12 conference
games and is the school’s all-time
leader in double-doubles. Despite
the loss, VCU finished 8-4 without
Hollingsworth.

Rams turn around season in BB&T Classic

On the verge of sinking to 3-4,
VCU knocked off another ACC foe
to get back above the .500-mark.
The Rams beat Maryland 85-76
to win the first of what became
12 wins out of 13 games, turning
around their early-season woes.