Senior Marie-Paule Foppossi put together one of her best performances of the season, scoring 23 points. PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Clark
A team of firsts.
That has been the case for the 2021-22 University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team. They added one more “first” over this past week, becoming the first team in program history to win 22 games when they knocked off the University of Richmond and St. Bonaventure University.
It all began last Saturday on the road at Richmond. Rhody got off to a quick start in the first half, taking a 42-31 lead at the half behind stellar play from Marie-Paule Foppossi, Dez Elmore and Emmanuelle Tahane, who combined for 31 of the team’s 42 first-half points.
In the third quarter, Richmond caught fire from beyond the arc. Coming into the game as the second-best three-point shooting team in the conference (33.6 percent), the Spiders knocked down six of their 11 made three-pointers in the period. A 12-2 run in the final 2:23 of the period also helped them cut a 14-point deficit to 53-52 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The two teams went back and forth for the majority of the final period. Emma Squires tied it at 60 with 3:14 left in the game after knocking down three of her game-high 27 points. The Rams stretched it to 66-62 after Dolly Cairns knocked down a three with 1:15 left, but the Spiders would bring it within a possession after Kate Klimkiewicz and Grace Townsend converted layups to make it 68-66 with 22 seconds left.
The Spiders had one final opportunity to tie the game when Townsend was sent to the line after being fouled by Chanell Williams with 2.4 seconds remaining, but she missed both of her free throws. Elmore grabbed the rebound, was fouled and sent to the line, where she made 1-of-2 free throws to help the Rams secure a 69-66 victory and a double-bye in next month’s conference tournament.
Tahane led the Rams with 18 points. Elmore tallied 17 points and Foppossi recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and snagging 10 boards.
On Wednesday night, the team cruised past St. Bonaventure 67-54 in an emotional senior night game that honored five seniors, Elmore, Tahane, Foppossi, Williams and Marta Vargas. Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Head Coach Tammi Reiss credited this group for “changing the course of the program.”
The quintet was honored in front of their families and the Ryan Center crowd pregame and were all featured in the starting lineup. Reiss thanked them after the game for how much they have contributed to the program in just a short time.
“There’s no one else that has done what these five have done — that’s why they came here, ” Reiss said. “Not to be one of many — a horse at Syracuse or someone at Missouri or someone at Seton Hall — they came to be special. Today, they made history and I think that’s pretty special.”
Marie-Paule Foppossi was the spark plug for the team all night, nearly recording a triple-double with 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. With it being senior night and Foppossi beginning her career with Reiss at Syracuse, the performance had greater significance.
“It means a lot, ” Foppossi said. “I’ve come a long way with Coach Tammi and being able to be there with my teammates and even Dez [Elmore] finding her back here, it means a lot. I was just trying to play for the team and all of the work that I put in and take pleasure in the game that I’ve been playing since I don’t even remember.”
The team also continued its stellar play on the defensive end, forcing the Bonnies to turn the ball over a season-high 24 times.
The Rams have a chance to add one more “first” this Saturday. The team heads on the road to take on the Dayton Flyers with a chance to win an Atlantic 10 regular-season title for the first time in program history. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.