Women’s Basketball
FINAL: URI 67-60 Davidson
The Rams traveled to Davidson, North Carolina on Saturday to take on the Davidson Wildcats in their 11th conference game of the season. The Rams were down early, as the Wildcats jumped out to a 13-7 lead in the first quarter.
Something changed in the second quarter though, because the Rams, as they’ve done all season, wouldn’t go down without a fight. An offensive explosion led to a 25 point second quarter for URI as they continued to play solid defense and held Davidson to only 11 points.
The Rams went into the break with a 32-24 lead and this was a lead the team would not give up. The Rams and Wildcats played an almost perfectly even second half as the Wildcats outscored the Rams by a single point, 36-35. Grad student and guard Madison Hattix-Covington continued her impressive season shooting over 57% in the game with 21 points and 4 rebounds.
Mayé Touré and Dolly Cairns both added double-digit points with 12 and 10 respectively. Touré added eight rebounds as she continues to be a force for the Rams, who moved to 19-3 overall and 10-0 in the Atlantic-10.
Men’s Basketball
Final: URI 50-64 St. Joe’s
On Wednesday, February 1, the Rams went to Philadelphia, PA to take on the Saint Joseph’s Hawks. Head Coach Archie Miller decided to try some new lineups, having Alex Tchikou get the start, going with Miller’s usual “small ball” lineup having four guards with only one forward. The Rams struggled early, going down by 10 points at the end of the first half, and the Rams were never able to crawl back from the deficit. Second-year Brayon Freeman led the team with 14 points, while the rest of the team lacked in scoring leaving Freeman as the only player for the Rams with double digits. Fourth-year Malik Martin, although unable to score as much, made his presence felt, as he grabbed 13 rebounds and had 4 assists. Second-year Ishmael Leggett also had a difficult game, shooting 2-11 from the field.
Final: URI 71-76 ST. Louis
On Tuesday the Rams played Saint Louis. Coach Miller once again went with a “small ball” lineup, where Tchikou once again found himself as the starting forward. After trailing 31-32 going into halftime, the Rams kept the game close. Ultimately, the Rams were unable to keep up with Saint Louis just narrowly losing this game 71-76. Leggett finished with 20 points, half of which came from the freethrow line. Freeman wasn’t far behind for the Rams, as he had 14 points and 4 assists. Tchikou grabbed 8 rebounds and at the moment, it seems he has won the starting job so long as he continues to perform at this rate. Martin wasn’t the scorer he usually is in this contest, however, his presence was still felt on the defensive end as he had 3 blocks. The Rams look on to their next game where they’ll be heading to Virginia to take on George Mason on Saturday.
Men’s Track and Field
URI takes home 25th New England Championship
The University of Rhode Island Men’s Track and Field team headed to Boston for the New England Championship on Thursday, and they ended up coming in first place out of 27 other teams. Rhody scored 199 points while second place University of Maine only scored 56.
This is the 25th time the Rams have won the New England Championships. The Rams were led by nine different champions in 6 events. The 4×400 relay team consisting of second-year Jarett Young, third-year Liam Creeley, fourth-year Collin Ochs and third-year Derek Chalmers were the champions in the event with a time of 3:17.08.
Second-year John Santos won his first New England championship as he took home the win in the high jump event with a height of 2.05 meters. Fourth-year Ben Fleischer placed first in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:47.30, a full eight seconds ahead of the second place finisher, successfully defending the same championship he won in 2022.
Graduate student Jonathan Buchanan won his first indoor championship, dominating the weight throw competition with a distance of 20.50 meters. Graduate student Stephen Cirella won the heptathlon with a total score of 5150 points. Lastly, Jack Reichenbach took home the win in the long jump as he made it 7.20 meters through the air.
Women’s Tennis
FINAL: URI 1-6 Boston University / URI 3-4 Sienna
The Rams traveled to Boston and Siena this past weekend to take on Boston University and Siena College. The team dropped both matches with the Boston Terriers, defeating the team 6-1 in a very one sided affair. Fourth-year Paulina Loredo won a straight set victory in singles during the match as one of the lone bright spots for the Rams in Boston on Friday.
Freshman Ava Grnja played well in a match for the Rams, but could not claim a victory even with the solid performance. The loss moved the team to 2-1 before heading to New York to take on the Siena Saints. The Rams came close against the Saints, losing the match 4-3 as the Rams fell to 2-2 on the season.
Rhody dropped the first team point as Siena won two out of three doubles matches to start off the day. The Rams then got back to back straight set wins in singles matches by third-year Valentina Cvackova and first-year Sophie Herrman, bringing them within reach of clinching the victory.
Unfortunately for Rhody, the Saints fought back, winning the next two matches and claiming victory, defending their home courts. The Rams have lost back to back matches for the first time this season, and they play their next match Saturday, February 11th at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI when Stonehill comes to town.
Women’s Track and Field
URI wins Fourth Place at the New England Championship
Thursday and Friday the Rams finished in 4th at the New England Championship held at Harvard. The Rams scored a total 85 points in 20 events over the course of the two day event. Fourth-year Hanna O’Connor, fourth-year Hannah Birdsall, fourth-year Becca Durham and first-year Lily Saul won the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 9:11.24.
Durham took the 1000 meter crown with a time of 2:51:41. Graduate student Trinity Smith won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.64 seconds. Fourth-year Xiana Twombly finished 6th in the 60m with a time of 7.86. First-year Jacqueline Edoro finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.56 meters. Saul placed third in the 500m with a time of 1:15.12 and Birdsall finished fifth in 1:15.90. O’Connor placed second in the 800m with a time of 2:14.91. Megan Wood placed third in the shot put after throwing 12.92 meters. The Rams look to prepare for the Valentine Invitational held in Boston on Friday.