The bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip were not too much for the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team to handle, as the Rams swept a pair of games against Youngstown State and University of Portland at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic last weekend.
The first contest against Youngstown State on Friday was a game where Rhode Island’s play granted them a lead in the first quarter, and the Rams never looked back. Through the first eight minutes, both squads battled back and forth until a jump shot from fourth-year Tenin Magassa broke the 10-10 tie with 1:57 left in the quarter.
A Rhode Island 8-0 run over the last two minutes of the quarter allowed the Rams to gain momentum heading into the first break, headlined by a three-pointer from third-year Sophie Phillips – her first of five on the afternoon – to grant Rhody with an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The first three minutes of the second quarter saw Phillips drain two more three-pointers, tacking six more points on to the Rhody lead. However, despite the quick start for the Rams, Youngstown State was able to keep themselves in the game, not allowing Rhody to go on any scoring stretches in the second 10 minutes. The Rams headed to half with a 31-20 lead over the Penguins.
A slow start to the second half on either side offensively saw Youngstown State take a 6-3 advantage over Rhody through the first four minutes of the half. However, two subsequent three-pointers from Phillips halted the Penguin run in its tracks.
However, offensive miscues on either side allowed Youngstown to keep the quarter tight, with only a one-point disadvantage through the 10 minutes. As a result, Rhode Island’s lead stood at 43-30 going into the final quarter of play.
The final 10 minutes of the game saw the most scoring of any quarter and both sides added 20 points to their tallies. The two sides traded runs through the first seven minutes of the quarter. However, it was Youngstown State who finished strong. A 9-4 run in the final three minutes for the Penguins was a positive note, but not enough to pull out a victory, as Rhode Island took the game 63-50.
Following the game, URI Head Coach Tammi Riess said she was not pleased with the performance from her squad, despite the 13-point win.
“[I’m] glad we pulled out an ugly win, I wasn’t happy with our play,” Reiss said. “We did not open up the game with the energy and enthusiasm we needed to be on the road… I thought we were extremely undisciplined today, so we just have to get back to the basics.”
Phillips, who scored a career high 23 points in the contest, was focused on the team’s performance postgame, rather than her own.
“It was definitely good getting back in the win column, we’ve had a tough road stretch of games and we really just wanted to come out here and play our game,” Phillips said.
In their second game against Portland, Rhody was ice cold to start, allowing a 13-2 run over the first four minutes. However, Rhode Island responded swiftly with a subsequent 12-2 run, with six points from fourth-year Mayé Touré, to bring the Rams within striking distance.
Portland’s first-year Lainey Spear converted on a layup as time expired on an offensively charged opening quarter with the Pilots leading 17-14.
The second quarter began as a carbon copy of the first when Portland sprinted out on a 10-2 run, bringing the Portland lead to 27-16. However, Rhode Island then only allowed Portland to three points over the next five minutes, prompting the Rams’ offense to start its climb back up to a level playing field. As a result of Portland’s offensive miscues, the Rams nearly equalized the total tally, however it was the Pilots with the lead at half, 34-30.
The second half was a flipped script for Rhode Island. Six straight points from fifth-year Teisha Hyman spearheaded a 19-6 Rhode Island run, which was topped off with a second-year Annaelle Dutat layup. The basket gave them their first lead of the afternoon, 40-39 .
The Rams held onto that lead for the rest of the quarter, and despite Portland trimming the advantage to only two points with 6:58 remaining, Rhode Island was able to maintain control of the ship and sail it safely to a 64-58 win.
The Rams are back in action on Thursday night at 6 p.m. when they host Quinnipiac. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.