Head coach Daynia La-Force led the largest turnaround in the program’s history during her first season as head coach, taking the Rams from 7-23 to 17-13.
Rhode Island was predicted to finish eighth in the Atlantic-10 preseason poll, receiving 113 points compared to George Washington University who is the favorite receiving 194 points.
Charise Wilson was awarded Second Team All-Conference, proving herself to be one of the best point guards in the Atlantic 10.
The entire starting lineup from last season’s turnaround effort returns to continue moving the program in a positive direction under coach La-Force. The team is looked to be led by the returning senior guards Symone Bullard and Tayra Melendez, sophomore guards Dominique Ward and Wilson and senior forward Sam Tabakman.
The team captains this season are Melendez, Tabakman and Brianna Thomas. This is the third straight season Melendez and Thomas share the role of captain, however is the first season for Tabakman.
The backcourt of Melendez and Wilson started every game together last season. The remainder of the starting five each started in over 15 contests last year.
Wilson, Tabakman and Bullard combined for 33.2 points per game last season. The three leading scorers should improve that number after being teammates for a calendar year.
If Rhode Island wants to finish better than their projected eighth-place in the Atlantic 10 this season, defense has to be a primary focus. Last year Rhode Island blocked 120 shots for the fourth-best season total in program history. Rhode Island averaged 4.0 blocks per game last season ranking fifth in the conference and 90th in the nation.
Tabakman is a big reason for last season’s block production as she averaged 1.7 blocked shots per game marking her for 91st in the country.
Opponents shot a mere 37 percent from the floor on Rhode Island last season – the 46th best field-goal defense in the country.
Rhode Island allowed 59.3 points per game last season ranking 66th in the country.
Men’s basketball
Rhode Island received 17 votes in the 2015-16 preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll.
In CBS Sport’s “Top 100 College Basketball Players for 2015-16,†E.C. Matthews is listed at no. 56 while Martin ranks at no. 90.
Matthews was honored to be named a 2016 Jerry West Award player to watch while also being named no. 57 on ESPN’s national top 100 players list.
Both Matthews and Martin were chosen for the A-10’s First Team Preseason All-Conference team.
Rhode Island was chosen to finish second in the conference behind last year’s conference champion, the University of Dayton Dayton in the annual preseason poll.
The Rams are ranked number one amongst all of their A-10 opponents for non-conference difficulty in schedule (Rate Percentage Index) at 116.79. Eight of the potential 14 non-conference opponents played in the national tournament last year, including three NCAA teams: Valpo, Maryland, and rival Providence.
