Maggie Doogan propels Richmond past Georgia Tech 74-49 for the Spiders' first March Madness victory
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Maggie Doogan had 30 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, and eighth-seeded Richmond routed ninth-seeded Georgia Tech 74-49 on Friday night for the Spiders' first women's NCAA Tournament victory.
Addie Budnik added 14 points for Richmond (28-6), which had gone winless in the four previous March Madness appearances by a program that began play in 1981.
With a phenomenal 18-point first half from Doogan, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, the Spiders jumped to a 20-point lead. They comfortably stayed in front of the Yellow Jackets all night while playing more than 2,600 miles from home at Pauley Pavilion.
Richmond will next face the winner of top-seeded Big Ten champion UCLA's late meeting with First Four winner Southern.
Tonie Morgan scored 12 points for the Yellow Jackets (22-11), who lost six of their final seven games. Georgia Tech started cold and never warmed up, making 30% of its shots in the first three quarters.
The victory was the culmination of six years of steady growth under coach Aaron Roussell for the Spiders, who have now won 57 games in the last two seasons.
After a few character-building nonconference losses in December, Richmond rolled off a 17-game winning streak and claimed the A10's regular-season title. The streak ended in the conference tournament semifinals on a buzzer-beater by St. Joseph's, but Doogan and the Spiders kept the confidence grown from a season of challenges met.
They showed it against the ACC's Yellow Jackets, who were making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five years under veteran coach Nell Fortner.
Georgia Tech struggled down the stretch with those six late losses — albeit five to NCAA Tournament teams — while being forced to make two separate trips to California.
After missing four of her first five shots, Doogan got the Spiders rolling in the first quarter with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions during a 13-2 run. The Spiders scored 11 straight points to open the second quarter to stretch their lead to 30-10.
But Georgia Tech finally increased its defensive intensity and held Richmond scoreless for five full minutes before Doogan's layup at the buzzer, which put the Spiders up 35-23 at halftime.
Doogan added six points in the third quarter as Richmond maintained its double-digit lead. Morgan got a technical foul late in the third quarter for a hard foul on Doogan.
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