Chanell Williams was 1 of 3 Rams in double figures in the team’s 60-52 win on Wednesday. PHOTO CREDIT: Siobhan Richards
Another crucial win for an already historic season.
On Wednesday, the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team picked up their 10th straight win this season and their 17th straight win at the Ryan Center after defeating the Saint Louis Billikens 60-52. The Rams now improve to 17-3 on the season, their first 17-win campaign since the 2014-2015 season, with seven games still to come.
After an early 8-3 Saint Louis lead, Rhody never trailed the rest of the way. They won the battle on the glass, collecting 40 rebounds and scoring 44 of their 60 points in the paint.
“What I was most proud of from our team today was our perseverance,” URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss said. “But when we needed to make plays and when we needed to get stops, we did it.”
After the early deficit, the Rams quickly fought back with an effort led by Marie-Paule Foppossi, who registered six of her 15 total points in the first quarter.
The next ten minutes saw Rhody put together their best stretch of the game. The Rams outscored the Billikens 13-7, while also outrebounding Saint Louis by the same margin. At the half, Chanell Williams picked up nine first-half points, despite the team’s early shooting struggles.
“Coach [Reiss] tells us all the time, ‘don’t worry about missing a shot,’” Williams said. “Sometimes we do get on ourselves a little bit, but other than that we try to stay focused on the task at hand.”
Rhody also held Saint Louis scoreless for the last 3:42 of the half. Brooke Flowers — who averaged a double-double per game for the Billikens going into Wednesday’s matchup — had only four points and four rebounds at the halfway point.
The momentum remained with URI to start the second half. Two quick buckets gave the Rams their largest lead of the evening, leading 32-21 with 8:32 left in the third quarter. The Billikens were able to keep up with Rhody the rest of the way, but were not able to make up enough ground on Rhody’s lead as they fell to their 12th loss on the season.
Emmanuelle Tahane led all scorers with 18 points, but finished with just three rebounds. Despite a season-low production under the glass, Rhody’s depth played a big part in making up for her “off-night” in the paint.
“That’s the second thing we addressed, which was depth and versatility,” Reiss said. “You have a bunch of people that can step up, where last year we didn’t really have that.”
Foppossi also had a productive night all-around, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Finding production and contributing in the paint has been one of the teams’ main focuses this season, according to Foppossi.
“It’s one of our strengths,” she said. “We know that if we don’t get rebounds, it’s going to be hard for us to be in the game.”
This win holds even further significance, as it came on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
“I coach because I want to give back,” Reiss said. “To see young girls in the crowd looking up to them, it’s everything.”
Even as their successful streak continues, Reiss says that it is important for her team to not look ahead and to take it “one game at a time.”
“You can’t lose focus on the task at hand,” she said. “It’s my worst fear. So I keep them on edge every game.”
The Rams now turn their focus to La Salle University, who they’ll travel to face in their next matchup on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.