Spiders No. 19

[Sections 204and5]

There was an article this morning in the RTD about who VCU is targeting for its open WBB HC position:

Who are the leading candidates in VCU women's basketball's coaching search?

Who are the leading candidates to succeed Beth O'Boyle at the helm for VCU women's basketball?

richmond.com

Here are a few quotes from the article:

"Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield​

For many, this would be a dream hire, but it's likely Thibault-DuDonis has aspirations higher than VCU in her next move."

Kim McNeill, East Carolina​

Before her time at Hartford, she spent 16 seasons as an assistant at various schools, including UVa, JMU and Richmond. On paper, she makes perhaps the most sense out of all these candidates.

Lindsay Edmonds, Rice​

Edmonds would be a great get for the Rams, though it's possible she'd see the move as too lateral.

Megan Griffith, Columbia​

It would be tough and perhaps not feasible for VCU to pry her away, but she'd be a great get if the Rams could interest her."

There are a bunch of other names listed in the article in addition to these that I will defer mentioning for copyright reasons.

 

[Sections 204and5]

Spiders jump three spots to 37, passing Clemson, Mississippi State and Syracuse. Rhode Island falls five spots to 50. Our next opponent - St. Joe's - sits at 84, down from 80 before its 26-point loss to Mason.

URI finishes at George Washington and GMU finishes at Duquesne.

 

[RichmondNative]

I’d love to read fewer articles from JOC on Mooney’s plans for Richmond next year and instead read more about Roussell’s plan for Richmond next year.

Mooney would probably like the spotlight to be on the Women’s program too.

 

[SFspidur]

Bracketology updates since the win over URI:

- ESPN (Feb 27): Moved from fourth team out to first team out.

- USA Today (Feb 25/26?): Last team in, playing VT in a First Four game. Given the article was published on the 25th and updated on the 26th, I'm unsure whether this was before or after the Rhody game.

- The Athletic (Feb 27): Held steady at first team out.

 

[PhillySpider]

Bracketology updates since the win over URI:

- ESPN (Feb 27): Moved from fourth team out to first team out.

- USA Today (Feb 25/26?): Last team in, playing VT in a First Four game. Given the article was published on the 25th and updated on the 26th, I'm unsure whether this was before or after the Rhody game.

- The Athletic (Feb 27): Held steady at first team out.

So its a little surprising that we have actually moved up after our lost week in DC. But I think its all moot - - - in order to be in the at-large discussion, we, by definition, have to lose another game and if that happens I just don't see us having much of a chance for an at-large.

Our Net is solid reflecting a very solid schedule and won't move much as long as the loss is to GMU or RI; but our overall resume is just lacking in quality wins. We are, for example, the only team in the Top 50 of the Net without a quad 1 win. And we only have 3 total quad 1 and quad 2 wins and that number is also very low vs. other possible at-large teams. And we are 1 of only 3 teams in the Top 45 with a quad 4 loss. I just don't think our resume is really at-large worthy and especially if we have one more loss which we would have to to be in the at-large pool.

 

[Sections 204and5]

Part of the reason we moved up is because others moved down so there could be results outside of the A-10 that benefit us. We're obviously close to being in, but with the GW loss I think we need to win the tournament to avoid disappointment.

 

[SFspidur]

Agreed. The NET is solid, but the overall résumé isn't there, especially at the top end. I would hope we get a little bit of credit for last year's performance in the dance, but don't know that that's enough.

Maybe, maybe there's a chance if we blow people out the rest of the way and lose a nail-biter to Rhody in the final. But I still wouldn't feel at all confident going into the selections, and the team has basically said as much...they're focused on winning the auto and leaving no doubt.

 

[UR Fan 2]

If St Joes moves from 84 to 80, and we win today that would be a 4th quad 2 win. Assuming we play GMU or Davidson in tourney and win that would be a 5th quad 2 win. Then if we lose the final to RI, we would be 5-4 in Quad 2. And 0-2 in Quad 1. If our NET stays around 37....I think we dance.

The committee wants to see NCAA stars shine in March. And UR has several of those!

 

[Sections 204and5]

Problem is St. Joes is 87 today and a Spider win this afternoon will push them lower.

 

[SFspidur]

No votes again for the Spiders in this week's AP poll, and Rhody dropped from 7 points to 2.

Notably, Fairfield entered the poll at #25.

AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA women's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.

apnews.com

 

[SFspidur]

Creme predicts the conference tourney winners and POYs:

Atlantic 10 Conference​

Predicted champion: Richmond Spiders

Rhode Island was the A-10 front-runner most of the way, but preseason favorite Richmond beat the Rams by 26 points in the second-to-last game of the regular season. The Spiders are the league's best shooting team, have the best player in Maggie Doogan and will be playing the conference tournament in nearby Henrico, Virginia.

Player of the Year: Maggie Doogan, 6-2, senior, F, Richmond Spiders

Although her team hasn't been as good as a year ago, Doogan has been better than her 2025 A-10 Player of the Year campaign. She won the scoring title going away and finished in the conference's top five in seven major statistical categories. Not coincidentally, Doogan's career corresponded with the best four-year run in program history.

2026 Champ Week women's tournament and conference POY picks

Thirty-one automatic bids to the women's NCAA tournament are on the line when Champ Week opens.

www.espn.com