Redshirt junior Elemy Colome evades blocker as she goes up for the layup in Sunday’s game against Duquesne. Photo by Greg Clark.
The University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team suffered defeat vs Duquesne University on Sunday afternoon, dropping the Rams to 2-10 in Atlantic-10 Conference play.
Rhody came into the game ranked No. 13 out of the 14 teams in the conference, while Duquesne, who were picked to finish first in the A-10 preseason poll, sat in sixth place through 11 games of conference play. The two sides had split their last two meetings prior to the game on Sunday, with both teams winning on their respective home courts.
One problem for URI has been the first quarter of games. Heading into the game, they had been outscored by 99 points against opposing teams, the worst point differential the team has in any of the four quarters.
The team trailed by four points after the first quarter on Sunday, with the score standing at 17-13 after 10 minutes of play. Redshirt Junior Elemy Colome hit a step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Rams, who finished the game with 12 points.
After trailing by 10 points at the half, Rhody was able to cut the deficit to seven points after a basket from guard Davida Dale. The former A-10 Player of the Week led the team in rebounding with eight to go along with her seven points off the bench.
When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the visitors were victorious by a score of 75-58. While the outcome was not the desired result, Head Coach Daynia LaForce was happy with the team’s intensity.
“In terms of our game plan and our effort and our fight I’m very happy with how they showed up today,” La-Force said.
A bright spot for the Rams was junior forward Erin Jones. The transfer from Hartford set a career high with 12 points off the bench, a performance that came to no surprise for Coach Laforce.
“I’m proud of her,” La-Force said. “All year we’ve been expecting that sort of effort and play from Erin. I think she was probably the only one in the gym that was surprised she played so well. Everybody knows how valuable she is to this program. Her teammates know how valuable she is to this program. The coaching staff knows how valuable she is to this program.”
LaForce concluded her postgame statement by saying how proud she was of Jones to contribute to the game as much as she did.
Sunday also marked a special day at the Ryan Center as URI celebrated National Women in Sports Day. A free clinic was held after the game for children to take part in as players from the team organized and ran various drills for the next generation to participate in. Shooting, dribbling and passing were just some of the skills worked on.
Rhody marked the occasion on the court by wearing unique jerseys for the game. As opposed to the normal white jerseys with black lettering and Keaney blue trim, the team wore white jerseys with a
Rhode Island is back on the Alex and Ani court at the Ryan Center next Sunday for a game vs. Saint Joseph’s that tips off at 2 p.m. Before that, they travel to Saint Bonaventure University to take on the Bonnies on Thursday at 7 p.m.