City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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PHILADELPHIA — Next one’s going in.

It was a thought Maggie Doogan kept repeating to herself again and again Saturday afternoon in Hagan Arena, the Richmond sophomore not wanting to lose confidence in herself even as her shot seemed to be betraying her. The Cardinal O’Hara product knew the ball would find her again and if she kept telling herself the next one was going in, eventually it would.

Doogan’s persistence paid off and the next one finally went in, sparking the Spiders to a 64-59 win over Saint Joseph’s in a big A-10 contest on Hawk Hill.

“I made my first shot then missed the next couple so I had to keep telling myself ‘next one’s in, next one’s in,’” Doogan, who scored 16 points, said. “I was open, I mean, I had to shoot it with the time and possession we had and so I let it fly.

“My teammates knew it was going in, I knew it was going in.”

Saturday marked Doogan’s second homecoming this season, the Spiders losing 67-57 at Villanova on Nov. 30, and the 6-foot-2 forward helped make sure it had a better ending. The former PA Class 5A Player of the Year tied for the team lead with 16 points, added four rebounds, an assist, three blocks and a steal with her mom Chrissie Doogan - her coach in high school - along most of the O’Hara coaching staff and a few former teammates in the crowd.

While Doogan’s belief the next one was going down did eventually pay off for her, the Hawks collectively were not as fortunate with their shot attempts. St. Joe’s actually made two more shots than the Spiders, but the hosts were just 25-of-64 overall and 3-of-18 from the three-point line while Richmond made 23-of-51 field goals and 9-of-22 from three.

“We did not shoot the ball well at all today as opposed to what Richmond was able to do, which is shoot the ball and it’s something they’ve been able to do all year,” Hawks coach Cindy Griffin said. “We’ve got to be better executing our offenses down the stretch. I felt like we did a better job in the second half of defending, but it needed to translate to some easier baskets down the other end.”

The three was the catalyst early, Richmond starting the game at a blistering clip from deep by hitting on 7-of-12 in the first half with six different players knocking in at least one. It also helped the Spiders withstand a 10-0 first quarter run by the Hawks, back-to-back treys slicing St. Joe’s 17-10 lead back to a point heading to the second frame.

After sizzling from long range to start the game, Richmond started to move inside and an 8-5 advantage over the last four minutes of the first half gave the visitors a 33-32 lead at the half. 

“We weren’t expecting it but once they did start switching, we knew how to build off of that,” Doogan said. “Our point guards were either getting a post on them and going to the basket or we had guards on us down at the basket, so once we got the flow of what they were doing, we were able to adjust our offense to them.”

Doogan, who had five points in the first half, turned things up in the third quarter. While her perimeter shot wasn’t on, save for her first one and that very important last one, she finished well inside the arc.

The sophomore had seven points in the third, also drawing an offensive charging foul for good measure, as the Spiders continued to work the ball inside and keep St. Joe’s two to three possessions away.

“We honed down on their offensive rebounding, they got a lot early and our coach told us they don’t usually crash a lot but when they did, we had to be the ones going to get the ball and get our possessions,” Doogan said. “That was really big, boxing out and trying to limit their second chances.”

Laura Ziegler sank a high post jumper with 6:44 left in the third to pull St. Joe’s within 41-36, but the Hawks wouldn’t score again until Emma Boslet’s driving take off the glass with 3:05 left in the quarter. The St. Joe’s defense did enough to keep Richmond from pulling away and a flash spurt of six points in 39 seconds by the Hawks cut the game to 50-49 in the final minute before a drive by Grace Townsend wove the Spiders a 52-49 lead going to the final frame.

Richmond’s Addie Budnick, who tied Doogan with 16 points, did a good job defensively of making Hawks forward Talya Brugler work for her game-high 17 points. The Spiders’ collective length inside also seemed to play a part in St. Joe’s offensive struggle although as Griffin noted, the Hawks also needed to finish the looks they did get.

“I think we missed a lot of layups today, layups that were makeable or open,” Griffin said. “We certainly took some contested ones as well, and they’re tougher to make, but when you’re getting downhill and getting as deep as we got, we’ve got to be able to make those shots.

“The good thing is we’re getting them, bad thing is we didn’t make them today.”

While the third quarter went well for Doogan, the fourth did not start the same way. She missed her first four looks of the frame which included two from long range, the second a wide-open look from the corner in front of her bench.

The frustration was visible after that miss, which would have extended Richmond’s lead to six. As she went back up the floor, Spiders coach Aaron Roussell tapped the forward on the shoulder and shared a quick few words.

“He just told me ‘next one’s in,’” Doogan said. “I was in foul trouble too, he just told me to be smart with that and he just does a really good job of keeping me positive and confident.”

Mackenzie Smith would score and cut the lead to one again and after the teams traded misses, the next one came for Doogan. Townsend used a screen from Doogan at the top of the key to turn the corner, taking both her defender and Doogan’s down into the lane with her and neither switching back to the now-open forward at the top of the arc.

Townsend stopped and kicked the ball back to Doogan, spotted up a foot behind the second three-point line on the floor. The shot was in, Doogan letting out a yell as she backpedaled up the court having given her team a 61-57 lead with the 44 seconds on the clock matching her jersey number.

“They made a lot of shots early and got a lot of confidence shooting the ball,” Griffin said. “There late, they got a three on a miscommunication by our end and that was the game.”

Doogan propped up her team for staying together in what was a back-and-forth, high-level game throughout. 

Once the game ended, she held court with the assembled family, coaches and friends who ventured out in the less-than-stellar weather to watch her play. Even a few hours away in Virginia, Doogan knows there are plenty of people back home who like her, always think the next one’s going in.

“I have the best support system, I’ve always said that,” Doogan said. “My family’s great, my friends are great and seeing them all make the trip then being able to perform in front of them was an awesome feeling.”