Davidson takes VCU women’s basketball ‘off balance’ winning, 71-60

Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves, Executive Editor

The Davidson College Wildcats defeated the VCU Rams Wednesday, Jan. 18, 71-60, and the black and gold “got to continue to get better,” said VCU head coach Beth O’Boyle.

“We’re looking at moments and stretches in the game where I don’t think we were as solid as we’ve been in the last couple of games,” O’Boyle said.

The pompoms clashed and the basketballs flew in the air during warmups as the teams got ready to face off. The Rams sang “Happy Birthday” to junior guard Sarah Te-Biasu. Te-Biasu achieved her career high of 30 points, while playing 39 out of the 40 minutes in the contest, according to VCU Athletics.

“It feels good,” Te-Biasu said. “It’s a great gift for my birthday.”

VCU won the toss up and immediately scored, as “go Rams” echoed in the arena with a back and forth between the teams. 

The pressure of the shot clock brought the first quarter of the game to 17-16 for the Wildcats. The game was back and forth, becoming a contested matchup.

“Our defense has been really solid all the way through, and Davidson did a really good job of taking us off the balance,” O’Boyle said.

The head coach said the team will continue to work on containing the ball better, “knocking down” the shots and executing the plays.

With a scoring drought of approximately a minute during the first quarter, Wildcat Elle Sutphin scored a three-pointer, which triggered a momentum in the game for the red and white-uniformed players, according to VCU Athletics.

“Let’s get it back,” a fan screamed out to the Rams.

The black and gold started the second quarter with three three-pointers, and O’Boyle attributed that to the emphasis the coaching staff puts on discipline during timeouts, she said.

“I give a lot of credit to our players,” O’Boyle said. “You draw something up, they run out, and they make the baskets.”

The Wildcats led the Rams 33-30 at halftime. VCU junior guard Sarah Te-Biasu led all scorers with 14 points, while Davidson redshirt junior forward Elle Sutphin had 10 points for the Wildcats.

The third quarter was rougher for the black and gold, with the Wildcats scoring the most out of all quarters and the Rams scoring the least, 22-13, putting them at a total of 55-43, according to VCU Athletics.

Davidson had a 9-0 run over approximately two minutes, but as soon as the fourth quarter started, VCU scored, according to VCU Athletics.

The final alarm sounded, and the concluding scoreboard read 71-60. The Wildcats improve to 9-9, while the Rams are 5-12.

“Now, we’re going to continue to play really good teams that do different things and we’ve got to continue to grow so that we can get the results that we want,” O’Boyle said.

The Rams will head to Washington D.C. Sunday, Jan. 22 to face the George Washington University Colonials for another Atlantic 10 conference game. For ticket information visit vcuathletics.com. The game will be televised on ESPN+.

Sports Editor Arrick Wilson contributed to this report.