As mid-major programs work to adapt to a college basketball era driven by the transfer portal and NIL, the Richmond women’s basketball team continues to serve as an outlier, setting a standard in the Atlantic
10 Conference defined by continuity and player retention.
Yes, the Spiders have dealt with losing players to the portal like any other program. Last season they lost out on bringing back Grace Townsend, who was a major piece of Richmond’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 19 years, as she ultimately transferred to North Carolina for her final year of eligibility.
Others to transfer since 2023 have included Sydney Boone, Kylee Lewandowski, Torin Rogers and most recently, Courtney Swider, who left to Delaware, Samford, UNC Wilmington and Wofford, respectively.
But a hallmark of the Spiders’ success over the last couple seasons has been roster continuity – developing their core, and most importantly, keeping that core intact despite national trends of roster shakeups, especially at mid-major schools.
Players like reigning A-10 Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team member, forward Maggie Doogan, who led the Spiders in points, rebounds, assists and blocks last season, and guard Rachel Ullstrom, a fellow All-Conference First Team member and former Sixth Woman of the Year who was not far behind Doogan in most statistical categories and led the team in steals, are already off to impressive starts to their senior years.
Doogan and Ullstrom, who entered the season with back-to-back trips to the Big Dance under their belts, are averaging 23.1 and 13.8 points per game, respectively, so far this season.
The Spiders’ floor general, guard Ally Sweeney (10.2 ppg), is also off to a solid start to the new campaign and is prepped to continue leading Richmond’s offensive attack throughout the rest of her junior year. She is coming off a season in which she upped her scoring average from her freshman year by almost seven points, and was second on the team in assists and first in 3-point percentage.
Richmond also has Sam Dewey back in action, who already at times this season has worked in tandem with Doogan in the paint as another forward option for the Spiders. Dewey was a solid option off the bench last year alongside Anna Camden, Alyssa Jimenez and Faith Alston. She has shown so far this year she can ignite things as part of a second unit or as a starter.
And then come this year’s transfers, who do represent traces of a newer roster, but ultimately it has been the Spiders’ ability to seamlessly weave in those new additions to pair with their core players that has also set them apart from other A-10 programs.
This was on full display last season, as the Spiders leaned on their core of Doogan, Ullstrom, Sweeney, Katie Hill and Addie Budnik while simultaneously incorporating their newest transfers into the rotation. And if last year is any indication, the same formula for success certainly appears to be on the horizon for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign as well.
The Spiders added two forwards through the portal who have already begun working to help fill the shoes of the six players – who made up 40% of Richmond’s roster – they lost to graduation and expiring eligibility.
Tierra Simon joined the Spiders by way of another fellow A-10 program, Saint Louis, where she averaged 8.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season. Before her two seasons with the Billikens, Simon had previous stops at Prairie View A&M and Pearl River Community College.
So far this season, Simon is averaging 3.7 points per game.
Skylah Travis, Richmond’s other transfer, had previously spent time with Old Dominion, Missouri and Louisiana. Like Simon, the Spiders mark the fourth team of her collegiate career. Travis averaged 5.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Ragin’ Cajuns last season.
This season, Travis has yet to fully get her feet under her as part of a new program, but her ability to crash the boards and presence in the paint will undoubtedly pay dividends come conference play.
In acquiring Simon and Travis, Richmond added perfect depth to the forward position. A perfect scenario for the Spiders as the new season progresses would be that the new duo would help reestablish the one-two punch Richmond had in the paint last season with Doogan and Budnik setting the tone and Camden and Dewey igniting things off the bench.
“All of our standards have stayed the same,” Doogan said in a press conference prior to the season on Sept. 25. “Working hard, coming in every day, stacking wins on top of each other, nothing like that has changed. Our goal is still to be winning the A-10 Championship and getting to the postseason.”
Other A-10 programs who were at the top of the standings last season alongside Richmond such as George Mason and Saint Joseph’s just haven’t had that same continuity and recent history of balancing such with the portal. Nor do the Patriots and Hawks have the same recent postseason experience the Spiders do.
George Mason made its first NCAA Tournament appearance ever last season, and Saint Joseph’s has not been since 2014, whereas Richmond has consecutive postseason trips to their name.
This season, the Spiders have relied on their core of Doogan, Ullstrom and Sweeney, who have those reps on a national stage, other programs have had to deal with more significant turnover.
George Mason entered play this season without three of its top five scorers in Paula Suárez, Nalani Kaysia and Ta’Viyanna Habib – three players who were paramount pieces of the Patriots’ A-10 Championship run and March Madness berth.
Suárez, who graduated, was the conference’s Most Improved Player last season, and made the All-Conference Second Team and All-Championship Team in a year where she averaged 12.3 points per game and led the Patriots in assists. Kaysia, another graduate, led the team in rebounds and blocks, averaging 9.7 and 1.2 per game respectively, while Habib, who transferred to Rhode Island, chipped in 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Saint Joseph’s is another team that has had to make up for its lost players.
The Hawks’ all-star forward, Laura Ziegler, a former A-10 rookie of the year who led the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks and made the All-Conference First Team last season, transferred to Louisville for her senior year.
Mackenzie Smith, another big piece of the Hawks’ near A-10 championship and ensuing WBIT appearance last season, who was also an A-10 All-Conference First Team member and left Saint Joseph’s top-10 in points, 3-pointers and field goals, graduated, so the program has had to fare without her this season as well.
Ultimately, Richmond more than any other A-10 program over the past three seasons has proven it can preserve its core, yet adapt to losing key pieces and, in turn, incorporate transfer portal additions into the fabric of its program all en route to playoff appearances.
Thus, this season and beyond, following successful runs from the likes of George Mason and Saint Joseph’s, it will be interesting to see if the Patriots and Hawks, as well as other A-10 programs who were in the mix last season like Dayton and Rhode Island, can employ elements of a Richmond model that has given the Spiders such an advantage as of late.
