Men’s Basketball: 3-4 (1-4)
The Rams started winter break hot, picking up two home wins against Canisius College and Northeastern University. While Canisius went down fairly easily, Northeastern battled to the final minutes. With key Rhode Island players getting in foul trouble early, it was up to the second unit to put the Huskies away. Sixth-year RJ Johnson secured the win with four made free throws in the final minutes to go along with 19 total points.
URI followed the home wins by losing to its first three Atlantic 10 Conference opponents. Loyola University Chicago, George Mason University and La Salle University were the squads to do so. The first conference matchup versus Loyola Chicago featured a late Rams resurgence, but the Ramblers’ original lead proved to be too much.
Rhode Island came away with a dominant performance at Davidson College to mark their first conference win. The Rams shot a season-high 58.3% from the field and held the Wildcats to just 45 points. This was the fewest points URI allowed this season. Fifth-year Keeyan Itejere had a great game, notching an efficient 18 points.
Rhode Island returned to the Ryan Center to lose a tough game against Virginia Commonwealth University. After a second-half scoring run, the Rams were able to tie the game at 52. However, a bombardment of consecutive three-pointers helped VCU walk away with the win.
Women’s Basketball: 7-0 (6-0)
Rhode Island started their undefeated winter break with two home wins, coming against Wagner College and the University of Richmond. Similar to the men’s team, URI was able to beat its first opponent, Wagner, with little trouble. The win against Richmond was sparked by defensive plays, turning into points on the other end. Third-year Sophia Vital was a great example of this philosophy, putting up 14 points and five steals.
The Rams took a trip to Loyola Chicago and George Washington University to tack on two more wins to their record. Rhode Island pulled away in the late second quarter against the Ramblers, led by second-year Albina Syla, who had a 16-point double-double.
The close 79-70 victory against George Washington marked the 123rd win for URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss. This made Reiss the winningest head coach in program history. After a slow offensive start for the Rams, fourth-year Brooklyn Grey went off for 15 second-quarter points. This helped Rhode Island slowly chip away at the lead.
The Rams’ next two wins came against St. Bonaventure University and VCU, where both won in the fourth quarter. URI outscored the Bonnies 26-14 in the last quarter. Rhode Island had trouble against VCU in the first half, but brought it back late. Fourth-year Ines Debroise showed up when it mattered, icing the game with her pair of late free throws.
Duquesne University was URI’s last opponent over the break. To follow the trend of previous games, the Rams started off slow but rapidly improved production after halftime. Syla had a stellar performance, contributing a career-high 23-point double-double at the Ryan Center.
Men’s Track and Field
Rhode Island hosted its URI Invitational on Jan 17. The Rams were able to secure the five best spots for the long jump event. Fifth-year Joachim Ennoo took the top spot with a 7.47-meter jump. Ennoo also won the triple jump event, with a distance of 15.37 meters. The pole vault event also saw five Rams in the lead. It was first-year Carson Dean who picked up the win with a 4.75-meter vault. Rhode Island rounded out the top four spots in the high jump as well. It was sixth-year Matt Santy who took the crown with a 2.12-meter jump. Capping it off for the field events was third-year Theo Puterbaugh, who secured first place in shot put with a 16.65-meter throw.
On the track, URI could not come up with quite as many wins, but still had its fair share. For the 1000-meter, it was first-year Ben Fatone who won with a time of 2:30.57. For the 500-meter run, the podium was filled by three Rams. Second-year Camden Rose took the gold for the event. Capping off the invitational was first-year Lucas Andrade, who took first place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.16 seconds.
Women’s Track and Field
The Women’s squad was also at the URI Invitational. Two Rams were able to come away with gold for the field events. Third-year Alyssa Yankee won the shot-put event, throwing for 13.46 meters. The long jump was dominated by second-year Lily MacDonald, who posted a 5.57-meter distance.
The track events saw more wins for Rhode Island. The first four finishing teams in the 4×400-meter race were all from URI. Rhode Island’s top team took the gold with a time of 3:52.72. Second-year Kelsey Wolff took first place in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:57.67. The Rams took a full podium once again in the 500-meter race. Fourth-year Lily Saul placed first with a time of 1:14.00. Second-year Lauren Filiberto won gold for the 400-meter race, posting a time of 58.94 seconds.
Swim and Dive: 0-2
The Rams’ first contest at the University of New Hampshire resulted in a loss, where UNH was able to win 12 out of 16 events. However, fourth-year Olivia Winslow was phenomenal, winning both of the diving events. Winslow’s performance in the 1-meter dive was far ahead of any competition. First-year Molly Beckwith was able to win the 200-yard freestyle. Beckwith’s win was the only victory for Rhode Island in terms of races.
URI lost the next contest at home to the University of Vermont. Beckwith doubled her wins from the last competition, winning both the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle. Fourth-year Rylee Kelly won the 500-yard freestyle. Third-year Logan Norrid took victory in the 100-yard breaststroke. The 200-yard butterfly was won by third-year Julianna Tyler. Winslow earned another win in the one-meter dive, while first-year Emily Whiteneck won the three-meter dive.
