With 12 straight wins, the Rams now hold the third longest active win streak in the country. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The Rhody Women’s Basketball team continued its historic run this past week as they extended their program-record winning streak to 12 with wins on the road at La Salle University and Saint Joseph’s University.
The first of the two games on the road trip was against La Salle on Sunday, where the Rams would face one of the tougher tests that they have seen since conference play began.
The Explorers of La Salle came out firing in the first half after early buckets by Kayla Spruill and Amy Jacobs had them up 10-2 to start the game.
From there, it was as close as it gets, with both sides trading buckets. For Rhody, it was the dynamic frontcourt duo of Emmanuelle Tahane and Marie-Paule Foppossi who seemed unstoppable, scoring layup after layup in the post. For La Salle, it was a balance, with the Explorers knocking down four of their 14 threes in the quarter and scoring 12 of their 15 first quarter points from behind the arc. The two sides went into the half at 28-26 in favor of La Salle.
The inside game of Tahane and Foppossi combined with the outside game of sophomore guard Dolly Cairns began to be too much for La Salle to handle in the third quarter. The trio helped the Rams gain a 49-46 lead into the final quarter.
La Salle pushed the Rams to their limit, continuing to knock down three after three; however, big shots down the stretch as well as a defensive adjustment by Head Coach Tammi Reiss allowed the Rams to come away with a narrow 66-60 victory.
Foppossi and Tahane led the way for a balanced Rhody attack, with 15 and 14 points respectively. Grad transfer Dez Elmore added 14 points and 10 rebounds of her own and Cairns finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Reiss was very proud after the game with the effort from her squad down the stretch and believed this game was an important one.
“It’s really important to get tested down the stretch,” Reiss said. “We are going to get every team’s best shot and today we proved that we can overcome adversity, stay focused, and make adjustments to get the win.”
The Rams next took on Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday to finish out their Philadelphia road trip. Once again, like Reiss said, the Rams got the Hawks’ best shot in this one.
The first half felt as though the Hawks could not miss, as they shot an astounding 67% from the floor and hit a number of threes to keep the game tight. Olivia Mullins and Talya Brugler were on fire for the Hawks, but Tahane and Cairns matched them bucket for bucket and the two sides went into the break knotted up at 30 apiece.
Similar to La Salle, the Rams proved too much for the Hawks in the second half and consistent shooting from Cairns and Tahane overwhelmed the Hawks and led to a 59-48 victory.
Chanell Williams also reached a career milestone in the win. She scored her 1000th point after hitting a jumper on the left elbow with 1:58 left in the second quarter.
The wins move the Rams to 19-3 on the season (9-0 in the A-10). 19 wins is the highest mark for the Rhody women since the 1995-96 season, where the Rams earned 21 wins and an NCAA tournament berth.
Tahane is enjoying the win streak, but wants to keep it rolling.
“We like winning, it has been very fun,” Tahane said. “But we know we have to stay focused. We can beat anyone if we are focused.”
The Rams next take on the Fordham Rams on Sunday at home with tip off set for 1 p.m. The game will also be available on ESPN+.