January 11, 2004

     Joanne Boyle recruited Saona Chapman when Boyle was an assistant coach at Duke. She knew what Chapman, a 5-foot-8 point guard, could bring to a team - a combination of scoring and leadership.
     But Chapman, a 2001 graduate of Norwich Free Academy, went to Rutgers, which went 9-20 in her freshman year. She started 17 of 29 games, averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds. Then she decided to transfer because the program was not a good fit and looked at George Washington, Maryland, Richmond, Pepperdine, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara. She chose Richmond, and Boyle, who had just left Duke after nine years for her first head coaching job.
     So far, it has been a good match. Richmond (11-3) has the best overall record in the Atlantic 10 and is 3-0 in the West Division. Chapman, in her first season after sitting out a year because of transfer rules, is second on the team in scoring (13.9 points), shooting 43 percent, and averages 4.7 rebounds.
     "We've always had hard-working kids on the team," said Boyle, in her second year. "But what she's brought to the team is a different level of intensity, day in and day out, on and off the court. ... She raised our level of play in practice last year."
     Chapman started off as if she had never missed a year. In the first game against Delaware, she played 45 minutes, scored 29 points - 11 in overtime - and also had eight rebounds, six assists and seven steals in the 82-80 victory. She had 28 points in the Spiders' 82-79 overtime victory over Xavier Jan. 5, including 11 in overtime. She hit three free throws in the final 30 seconds in a 62-60 victory over Georgetown Dec. 4.
     "You love players who want to have the ball in their hands at end of games," Boyle said. "She was all about running the team. She's a smart player and a great defensive guard. But what she developed over the year with us was a scorer's mentality. She'll take over when she needs to."
     For her part, Chapman is happy at Richmond.
     "It's awesome, school is great and my teammates and coaches are awesome," she said. "It was worth a year of sitting out."
Copyright 2004, Hartford Courant