The University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team split its two-game road trip, beating the University of Massachusetts 42-40 before losing to Saint Louis University 66-63.
The game between the Rams and Minutewomen on Saturday afternoon was the last between the two programs as Atlantic 10 Conference foes, as UMass will move to the Mid-American Conference next year.
“With [UMass] leaving the conference, I thought the battle in Rhode Island [on Jan. 22] was fitting,” URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss said. “Win, lose or draw, this is the way I wanted to go out [with a] last-possession game. Thank god we were on the winning end.”
In the final seconds of the game, fourth-year guard Sophie Phillips, the leading scorer with 12 points, stayed with first-year guard Yahmani McKayle, and forced a turnover with less than three seconds left. Third-year guard Ines Debroise would go on to hit a free throw but miss her second. UMass was forced to heave a shot from half-court that missed and gave Rhody the season sweep.
“I’ll say this,” Reiss said. “That was some ugly basketball up until the final three minutes when both teams started to execute, but I think it’s such a juggernaut when we play each other, so [I’m] really happy the way we executed defensively in the last minute to hold them.”
The first quarter was the start of that “ugly basketball” Reiss spoke about, as neither team was able to put points on the board for the first four minutes until fifth-year guard Stefani Kulesza hit a layup that sparked a 6-0 run for the Minutewomen. This lack of scoring for the Rams can be attributed to their six turnovers in six minutes and nine turnovers in the first quarter. Both teams went scoreless for the last two and a half minutes of the quarter, ending the quarter with UMass leading 8-6.
The Minutewomen went on a 10-5 run to end the half and entered the break with a 21-20 lead. URI, on the other hand, ended the quarter making two of its last six attempts after going on a 9-3 run in the first five minutes.
The third quarter was more of the same, as there were multiple two-minute stretches where both teams didn’t put points on the board. However, URI went on a 9-5 run over five minutes to take back the lead 31-29. Led by a double-double from third-year forward Anaelle Dutat, URI held on to its slim lead for a third consecutive victory.
“We’re going to resume [playing each other] the following year, and make sure that we get each other on the schedule,” Reiss said. “I don’t want to lose this game, and I am sad they’re leaving the conference, [but] I am glad we got two wins out of it.”
On Wednesday night, the Rams made the trip to Saint Louis as they looked to extend their win streak to a season-high four games, and get closer to that coveted double-bye in the A-10 Tournament.
A 28-16 advantage in the final quarter for the Rams wasn’t enough to come back from a 16-point deficit, as they fell 66-63.
Turnovers were the story of the first quarter as the Billikens turned the ball over six times, leading to eight points for the Rams. Meanwhile, the Rams only turned the ball over twice, giving the Rams a 16-8 lead at the end of the first.
The second quarter was all Billikens, as they went on a 18-2 run that stretched all the way to two minutes left in the second. The Rams didn’t make a shot until 2:17 left in the second quarter when first-year forward Palmire Mbu hit a layup. Mbu’s bucket led to a 6-2 run over the last two minutes to cut the Billikens lead to three going into the half.
The third quarter continued the trend of the second quarter as Saint Louis went on an 18-4 run over the last five minutes to extend its lead to 16 points. The Rams weren’t able to overcome the double-digit deficit, snapping their three-game win streak.
Rhody will head back home to the Ryan Center for their final regular season game against George Washington University at 1 p.m. on Saturday. A win keeps them in contention for the double-bye in the A-10 Tournament. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with a radio broadcast available on The Varsity Network and riu2.org.
