Ines Debroise (left), Mayé Touré (center) and Sayawni Lassiter (right) celebrate their first-ever Atlantic 10 title. PHOTO CREDIT: Connor Zisk
The University of Rhode Island Rams Women’s basketball team are Atlantic 10 champions for the first time in 48 years.
On Saturday, which was also senior night, the Rams beat the Dayton Flyers 81-57, officially clinching a regular season championship that they will share with the University of Massachusetts.
URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss has pledged since she got here to Kingston that she was going to win an Atlantic-10 championship. After the game, Reiss grabbed a microphone and spoke to the crowd, telling everyone how this was just the start and more was to come.
Postgame, after all the celebrations in the locker room and on the court, she expressed her happiness with a few words that champions are known for saying.
“I’m going to freaking Disneyland!” Reiss said.
Reiss added on about the feeling of winning here in Kingston after falling short last year, when they lost two of their final four games, both to this same Dayton team.
“It was pure satisfaction, the reason I came here was to build something special” Reiss said.
Reiss has been one of the most successful coaches in URI history already, winning an A-10 championship and leading the team to multiple records.
With the victory, the Rams broke the program record for most wins in a season with 23, most conference wins in a season with 14 and most home wins in a season, coming out victorious 13 times in the Ryan Center.
Reiss led the Rams to the best season in the program’s history, with an A-10 regular season championship and an all time best record of 23 wins and only 5 losses, in just her first year of a 10-year contract that she signed last off-season.
It happened because of the win against Dayton Saturday, a matchup that URI had not won since March 2004. Since then, the Rams played the Flyers 19 times, and in all 19 games the Flyers would head home with the victory.
The Rams dominance of Dayton on Saturday started early, as they jumped out to a 27-10 lead in the first quarter. The Rams started the game shooting 6-6 in the first few minutes of the game, and ended up shooting 9-13 at the end of the quarter, just over 69%. The Rams shot a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc, and 7-7 from the free throw line in the first quarter, which helped their offense take a lead over the Flyers early.
The onslaught didn’t stop in the second quarter, as the Rams had a 31 point lead as the game neared the half, their second largest lead of the day. The Rams outscored the Flyers 26-14 in the second quarter and went into the halftime break ahead 29 points, 53-24. The second quarter was not as great as the first quarter percentage-wise for the Rams, but they still shot over 50% and made more one field goal than they did in the first, making 10 in the second and nine in the first.
Through three quarters, the Rams shot over 61% from the field and ended the third quarter with a 77-41 lead over the Flyers. Led by fifth-year student Madison Hattix-Covington, in what could have been her final game at The Ryan Center, URI had the 36 point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Hattix-Covington shot 80% from the field, scoring 21 points in an emotional game for everyone. Hattix-Covington, along with teammates Sayawni Lassiter and Emma Squires celebrated senior night prior to tip off, with the matchup possibly being their last home game as members of the team.
Coach Reiss discussed what it meant to win at home, on this emotional day after losing a heartbreaker to Fordham last week.
“To do it in front of your fans, it was climatic. It’s senior night and they’re here, you have to win this game and that was special,” Reiss said.
Madison Hattix-Covington transferred from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), an Atlantic 10 rival of the Rams, last offseason and came in looking to win an A-10 championship as well as being someone the team could rely on. Postgame, she discussed what it was like coming to Kingston and how it felt to get the job done.
“Just seeing it all, today go in place, it just felt amazing,” Hattix-Covington said. “It’s what I came here to do. I knew we could win, I knew coach Reiss and her staff and what kind of program they were building. I wanted to be a part of that.”
As the game entered the final 10 minutes, the Rams did not perform up to their usual standard, being outscored 16-4. Although they were outplayed in the final period of play, it ultimately did not matter. The Rams held on for the win, defeating the Dayton Flyers by 24 points, with a score of 81-57.
Hattix-Covington had one of the best games of her career on Saturday, scoring 21 points shooting over 80%. She was a large part of the success the Rams had this season. She won the A-10 tournament with VCU in 2021 and on Saturday, was asked how this championship felt different than the one two years ago.
“This team is special, the staff is special, when they say it’s a family here it really is a family environment, ” Hattix-Covington said. “I think that’s what makes this one a little more special for me”
Next, the Rams will head to Wilmington, Delaware this week for the Atlantic 10 championships, a tournament that will decide the postseason champion. The postseason champion earns an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.
The Rams will suit up for their first game of the A-10 tournament on Friday, March 3rd at 5pm.