Atlantic 10 tournament’s first round sets up exciting rematches

Only one upset, but many exciting rematches coming up in the A-10 Tournament

Despite several close games, there was just one upset last night, No. 9 Richmond over No. 8 GW. The tournament resumes Friday in Dayton and will conclude on Sunday.

An updated bracket can be found below:

It should be noted that the Atlantic 10 conference is monitoring Coronavirus in regard to the men’s and women’s basketball conference.

The conference put out a press release yesterday that stated the conference is in communication with and will continue to be with its member institutions, competition venues and media partners regarding any steps taken.

The league suggests continuing to be diligent in following the recommended health and safety precautions.

More from Atlantic 10

• Five things to look out for at the Atlantic 10 tournament
• How the George Washington players wrote the script for a big rivalry win
• A wild weekend in the Atlantic 10 conference
• National Girls and Women in Sports Day means a little more at Mason
• Atlantic 10 Conference Play Roundup: Bre Cavanaugh, Nicole Jorgensen keep grinding

Additionally, “the pre and post-game protocol of student-athlete handshakes have been suspended, substituting ‘forearm bumps,’ and back of house areas will be supplied with sanitizing gel and appropriate security to limit access by non-essential personnel.”

No. 4 Saint Louis 69, No. 13 Mason 61 

While Mason controlled much of the first three quarters, the Billikens outscored the Patriots 28-19 in the decisive fourth quarter.

Saint Louis controlled the glass grabbing 41 rebounds, while Mason had just 24. The Billikens used 14 offensive rebounds to score a critical 12 second-chance points.

Mason’s loss cannot overshadow the fact that Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, the team’s junior point guard, became the program’s all-time leading scorer, passing Keri Chaconas early in the second quarter. She finished the game with 29 points, including 5 three-pointers.

Saint Louis will take on No. 5 UMass, a team they beat at home on Feb. 16, at 2 p.m. on March 6. The Billikens will need to continue their physical defense and rebounding success in order to take down the strong UMass offense.

No. 3 Fordham 59, No. 14 Saint Joseph’s 36

For the second time in four days, Fordham beat Saint Joseph’s by at least 20 points. The Hawks’ offensive woes continued, and the Rams were able to capitalize.

Fordham was led by Bre Cavanaugh who had 22 points, including 4-7 from behind the arc. Kendell Heremaia and Anna DeWolfe also scored in double figures.

The Rams were also able to capitalize off of the Hawks’ 15 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of them.

Fordham continues its quest to repeat at 7 p.m. on March 6 against No. 6 Duquesne. Cavanaugh and the rest of the team will need to shoot well in order to avenge their recent loss to the Dukes.

No. 6 Duquesne 70, No. 11 Rhode Island 53 

Duquesne advanced to the quarterfinals after a convincing win over No. 11 Rhode Island. The Dukes were led by a career-high 24 points from Amanda Kalin.

Seven other Dukes scored, while just six Rams were able to. Nicole Jorgensen scored 31 of Rhode Island’s 53 points, but the team failed to get the rest of the team going offensively.

The Dukes will take on Fordham at 7 p.m. on March 6, a team they beat on Senior Night on Feb. 25. Fordham is likely to make adjustments, so the Dukes will need to as well to take down the reigning champs.

No. 7 Davidson 67, No. 10 La Salle 63 

Katie Turner led the team with 18 points, coming from of six of the teams’ nine threes. Two of these threes came late in the game and helped the Wildcats pull out the win.

The Explorers led by six midway through the third quarter, but Davidson would eventually retake the lead. La Salle came within one late in the second quarter but free throws helped Davidson secure the victory.

Davidson will take on No. 2 VCU on March 6 at 4:30 p.m. looking to avenge a Feb. 29 Senior Day loss. The Wildcats lost by just four in that game. While VCU is coming off of a few days of rest the Wildcats may be able to pull off the upset by continuing to shoot well, especially behind the arc.

 No. 5 UMass 72, No. 12 St. Bonaventure 54

The Minutewomen were led by Sam Breen, who had her fourth-straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Maeve Donnelly, Hailey Leidel and Destiney Philoxy also scored in double figures.

UMass started the game on a 17-0 run and kept the Bonnies off the board for over seven minutes. St. Bonaventure could never come back from the early deficit.

The win marked the first time since March 1, 1998, that the Minutewomen won a home A-10 Championship game. Many of their players had not been born yet.

UMass is looking to avenge a 15 point Feb. 16 loss when they take on Saint Louis at 2 p.m. The Minutewomen will need to continue their offensive success to take down the Billikens.

No. 9 Richmond 57, No. 8 GW 49

After losing to GW on Feb. 29, Richmond was able to pull out the win four days later. The Spiders were down by one at halftime but pulled away after outscoring the Colonials 19-10 in the fourth quarter.

Richmond led 50-49 with 2:55 remaining but scored the final seven points to secure a victory.

The Spiders were led by sophomores Kate Klimkiewicz and Claire Holt who had 10 and 15 points respectively.

The Spiders will take on Dayton at 11 a.m. on March 6 and look to avenge their Jan. 12 loss to the Flyers. Richmond has their work cut out for them, with Dayton coming off of a few days of rest, but this team is resilient and in March anything can happen.

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