Photo by Autumn Walter | Elemy Colome attempts to make a lay-up.
The University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team is officially back for the 2018-2019, splitting their first two games.
The Rams were looking for their third straight home-opening win when they took on the Boston College Eagles this past Thursday. Both teams were looking to integrate new players into the mix, as Rhody started redshirt sophomore Davida Dale at the point guard position. Coach Daynia La-Force, entering her fifth season at the helm, was optimistic about the redshirt sophomore impact over the course of the long season.
“She plays hard, she defends well, she runs our offense, and shes the key in transition. In transition, she does well because she pushes the ball so well.” Dale finished with 11 points in her first collegiate game in three years.
URI fell behind 26 points by the time the halftime horn sounded, a deficit that was too hard to overcome in the second half. The final score read 88-64 in favor of the Eagles, who finished the game with 13 made triples from behind the arc. Boston College’s barrage of three-pointers tied the record for most in a game at the Ryan Center. Redshirt junior Elemy Colome led the way for Rhody with 18 points.
On the play of her starting guard, Coach La-Force said, “She was steady, she was poised, she showed great effort throughout the game, didn’t matter what the score was and gave us a real opportunity to build on something.”
A setback for the Rams was their lack of size in the first half. With 6’ 5” center Dina Motrechuk sitting out as an injury precaution and Nicole Jorgensen plagued by early first-half foul trouble, the Eagles were able to take advantage inside. They held the rebounding advantage 55-33.
The second half went better for Rhody, leaving themselves wondering “what if” in terms of the first half performance. Speaking after the game, La-Force said, “I was proud of the effort in the second half. We were able to win the second half, 41-39, and had we had the same effort, energy, and lineup in the second half I think it would have been a different game.”
The team was back in action Tuesday Night as they traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Robert Morris Colonials. The Rams were able to pull out the victory 46-41 in their opening road game of the season. It was their first road win since late November of 2016.
Once again it was the second half that provided the spark for the Rams where they scored 29 of their total points. After being down by eight points in the final quarter, they finished the game on a 19-6, continuing their early-season theme of finishing games well.
Leading the way again for URI was Elemy Colome. She finished with a game-high 17 points on the night, while also pulling in six rebounds. Senior Davida Dale nearly finished with a double-double, combining her nine points with nine rebounds.
Rhode Island continues their road swing with a trip to the University of Vermont. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.