COLUMBUS, O.H. — For the second time this season, the Duke and Richmond women’s basketball teams will face off — but with much higher stakes than the first matchup.
The seventh-seeded Blue Devils (20-11) and the tenth-seeded Spiders (29-5) play in a first round contest in the Portland 3 bracket. The game is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. at Value City Arena in Columbus, OH.
Duke and Richmond opened the season against each other on Nov. 6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Freshman Oluchi Okananwa notched a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists and junior Reigan Richardson dropped 28 points to lead the Blue Devils to an 83-53 win.
Since then, however, Richmond has only lost four games, winning both the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament titles. Their 29 wins set a program record for most victories in a season, earning the Spiders their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2005.
The two programs have played a total of nine previous times, with the Blue Devils leading the all-time series 8-1. This is the first meeting between the two teams at a neutral site.