VCU women’s basketball falls to Indiana in NCAA tournament
Senior guard Taya Robinson looks to pass against La Salle on Feb. 18. Photo by Megan Lee
Noah Fleischman, Sports Editor
From a seven-win season in their freshman year to a NCAA tournament appearance, women’s basketball’s senior class made it the furthest a VCU team has gone in the postseason since 2009.
The No. 13-seeded Rams lost to the No. 4-seeded Hoosiers 63-32 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.
VCU’s senior class, led by senior guard Taya Robinson, won its first Atlantic 10 championship in program history this season. Coach Beth O’Boyle said she wants the legacy the class has left to be remembered.
“They’ve absolutely left their mark on VCU women’s basketball,” O’Boyle said. “We wouldn’t be here if at any point they gave up.”
Robinson scored six points on 1-of-11 shooting from the field in the loss to Indiana.
“I’m proud of what we did,” Robinson said. “I’m happy for us. We gave it all we got.”
Indiana took a quick seven-point lead to force coach Beth O’Boyle to call a timeout in the first quarter. VCU was able to pull within four points after the break.
The Rams took a single-point lead in the second quarter, using a 6-0 run powered by freshman guard Sarah Te-Biasu’s four points. The Hooisers ended the period on a 6-0 run of their own to take a five-point lead to the halftime break.
“Going into halftime, I thought we were doing a good job on our defensive game plan and really controlling the paint,” O’Boyle said.
The Rams dominated the paint in the first half, out-scoring the Hoosiers 14-6.
Indiana used a 6-0 scoring outburst early in the third quarter, building an 11-point lead.
The Hooisers outscored the Rams 22-3 in the fourth quarter to close the contest with all of the black and gold’s points from the free throw line.
“We’ve been wanting to be here for four years,” Robinson said of the NCAA tournament. “Just don’t want to hold our heads.”
The senior class made three-straight A-10 tournament championship appearances after its 7-23 season in the first year together. Robinson said putting in the work got the team to the NCAA tournament.
“You don’t always get the results you want, but you put in the work and it’ll show,” Robinson said. “That’s what we did over these last four years.”
Women’s basketball finished the season 16-11 and A-10 tournament champions.
