Go Rams! The URI Women’s Basketball team beats both La Salle and Saint Josephs! Photos by Greg Clark.
The University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team continues to prove that they can compete with the best of the Atlantic 10, coming away with crucial victories against both La Salle and Saint Joseph’s this past weekend.
The two victories give the team a five-game winning streak and a tie with Richmond for second place in the conference.
The Rams’ win against La Salle, a 75-60 effort on Friday night, saw eight of their 11 turnovers come in the first half, resulting in a seven-point deficit going into the locker room. But they rallied back with a huge 49 second-half points and a much improved defensive effort to win by double digits.
Head Coach Tammi Reiss credited her team following the game with improving in the face adversity throughout the course of the season.
“We didn’t fold,” she explained. “At the beginning of the season, we folded. That’s the sign of progression.”
Coach Reiss added that they were able to “flip the script” on La Salle in the second half, as her team was able to pick up the pace on offense and limit their mistakes.
After the Rams struggled offensively in the second quarter, including a 2:29 stretch with no points to end the half, they were able to find their rhythm down the stretch. Of the 49 points in the second half, 17 of them came off the bench from freshman Catherine Cairns, who last week won the A-10 Rookie of the Week award. Coach Reiss says that she has continued to build her confidence throughout the season, capitalizing on her shots when opponents double team against other shooters.
“It’s a lot for a freshman to learn an all new system,” she remarked. “Dolly’s gotta hit shots, and now she’s finding a rhythm. That will just open up the inside for us.”
After defeating the Explorers, Rhode Island went into Sunday’s game against Saint Joseph’s with momentum. Even though they had control early on, the Rams were outscored 24-17 in the second half to force overtime. However, they were able to pull through in extra time, with a clutch three-pointer from Cairns being one of the deciding plays in a 50-48 win.
Coach Reiss noted that while her team did not perform well late and let Saint Joseph’s back in the game, they kept competing and secured a great team win.
“I am very proud of the kids for grinding an ugly basketball game out and I’m very proud of them for getting that stop we needed,” she said. “It is always really fulfilling to win a basketball game on the defensive side.”
The Rams led by as much as 15 points early in the second half, thanks in large part to Marie-Paule Foppossi’s 13- point performance through two quarters. However, the Hawks’ zone defense stifled their opposition, holding URI to 17 points while only allowing 27 percent shooting from the field through the last two quarters to force overtime.
Coach Reiss credits their depth on the bench for staying in such a tight game, despite the Hawks only playing in six games going into this matchup.
“They’ve got some great bench players,” Reiss said. “I credit Saint Joe’s. [Head Coach] Cindy [Griffin] does a great job with them and gets them to really compete and play hard.”
The Rams hope to extend their win streak as the regular season winds down. URI’s next three games are at home, including this Friday’s matchup against George Mason at 4 p.m.