PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
Women’s Basketball
FINAL: URI 63-31 VCU
Rhode Island went south to Richmond, Virginia to take on the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams. The URI Rams jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the first quarter after a 10-0 run early. In the second the Rams continued to outscore VCU as they again only allowed 8 points but scored 12.
Going into halftime URI led VCU 26 to 16, as Rhode Island continued to dominate in both defensive and rebounding as they did not allow a single three-pointer in the first half. VCU went 0-5 from behind the arc to start the game.
The second half was no different as the Rams held VCU to only 6 points through the third quarter as they only allowed them to shoot 20 percent from the field. URI dominated the fourth quarter out, scoring VCU 21 to 9 and allowing a season-low 31 points. Madison Hattix-Covington led the Rams with 13 points in her return to her former school. With the win, the Rams have clinched a double bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament. URI is now 21-3 and is still undefeated since conference play started, being a perfect 12-0.
Women’s Tennis
FINAL: URI 7-0 Stonehill
Rhody tennis dominated Stonehill on Saturday in Newport, sweeping all of the singles matches and taking two out of three doubles matches to secure all seven points for the win. Third-year Klara Nelander was the first to finish a match as she won all six games in a sweep of her singles match. She then teamed up with first-year Nikki Fernando as the two of them swept their doubles match with a 6-0 win.
Fernando also had her own singles match in which she defeated Anneliese Beltran bringing URI within one point of clinching the win. Third-year Valentina Cvackova secured the win for the Rams in the top singles match and the Rams clinched their third win of the year. Cvackova and first-year Sophie Herrman also paired up for a doubles match which they won in the first team doubles match.
Herrman also picked up her team-leading eighth singles win of the year and fourth-year Paulina Loredo also picked up a singles victory to complete the 7-0 sweep for Rhode Island. URI is taking on Providence on Friday the 17th as they look to put together back-to-back victories.
Men’s Track and Field
URI dominates field events at Coaches Invitational
On Saturday the team was split up as they hosted the URI Coaches Invitational and traveled to the Boston University Valentine Invitational. The split squad had the track team go north to Boston while the field team stayed home. The Rams in Kingston won every field event. Second-year Ryan Tona won the high jump with a leap of 2.08 meters.
Fourth-year Orion Joyner won the triple jump with a distance of 14.66 meters. Graduate student Johnathan Buchanan won the weight throw tossing a distance of 19.88 meters. Second-year Mason Bruaker won the pole vault with a height of 4.80 meters, and for the field events, third-year Chris Tavarone won the shot put with a distance of 16.28 meters. In Boston with the track team, graduate student Eric Zulkofske set the URI record for the 5,000 meters with a time of 8:04.98. Second-year Jarrett Young came 13th in the 200 meters with a time of 21.56 seconds. The 4×400 team also came in sixth with a time of 3:12.55.
Women’s Track and Field
Smith’s school record outlines several top finishers
The women’s track and field team also saw a split team competing at the URI Coaches Invitational and the Boston University Valentine Invitational. Fifth-year Trinity Smith led the way for URI in Boston, winning the 60 meter hurdles with a school-record time of 8.49 seconds. URI saw several more top finishers at home in Kingston, with three Rams finishing on top of their respective events. Fourth-year Xiana Twombly won with a 5.56 meter leap, third-year Megan Wood won the shot put with a 13.24 meter throw and first-year Jacqueline Edoro won the triple jump with a mark of 11.29 meters.
Men’s Basketball
FINAL: URI 67-75 George Mason
It was another tough stretch for URI men’s basketball, who came into the week looking for their first road win of the season against George Mason. It was a wait that would ultimately continue, as the Rams fell to their third straight loss on the road.
Following a promising offensive performance against St. Louis, Rhode Island once again came out strong, forcing several early turnovers on their way to a 24-14 lead through the first 10 minutes. This lead wouldn’t last long, as a 12-2 run from George Mason fueled by 15 points (7-for-8 shooting) from fourth-year Josh Oduro would see the Patriots turn the game around before halftime, going into the break with the 36-33 lead. In stark contrast to the opening minutes, Rhode Island would close out the first half going only 1-for-12 from the field.
It didn’t get much better for the Rams in the second half. The Patriots led by as much as 13, and Rhode Island could only close the deficit by as much as four, and a 67-75 finish would ultimately see Rhode Island return home with their third-straight loss. Oduro would finish the night with 27 points, going 12-for-14 from the field. Despite the loss, Jalen Carey had a season-high night for the Rams, scoring 21 points and adding eight rebounds.
FINAL: URI 54-55 VCU
In desperate need of a win, Rhode Island returned to the Ryan Center to face off against the conference leaders at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Rams came into the game with a 7-5 home record, having bested two of the top three teams in the conference in Kingston, and needed to capitalize on that home momentum in order to get a result.
They did just that, jumping to an early lead and continuing to control the game throughout the first half. Thirteen points from second-year guard Ishmael Leggett helped the Rams to establish a 30-24 lead at the half, as URI shot 33 percent compared to VCU’s 31 percent in the first period.
URI’s dominance would continue out of the halftime break, with the Rams extending their lead by as much as 13 midway through the second half. Not to be deterred, the visitors would eventually begin to chip into the lead in the last 10 minutes, going on a 9-0 run and holding URI scoreless for more than three minutes to bring the lead to as little as one point. A pair of Leggett free throws would give URI a narrow 54-53 lead with 4.2 seconds on the clock, but Zeb Jackson would deliver a killer blow on the other end, beating the buzzer with a mid-range jumper to take the 55-54 win. It was a fourth straight loss for URI, who will welcome UMass to the Ryan Center on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off.