A prayer was answered on Saturday as the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team secured its second regular-season Atlantic 10 Conference championship in four years.
“The only thing I wanted was a championship for these girls,” Head Coach Tammi Reiss said. “You could take anything from me, anything. But I wanted them to feel the confetti, and I wanted them to cut down the nets, that’s all I cared about.”
It was a dominant day to complete a historic regular season as the Rams went wire to wire, winning all four quarters in a 72-48 victory over George Washington University.
“I told them in the huddle this morning after we had shootaround, ‘We’re not losing, I’m not letting you lose today,’” Reiss said. “To have that feeling of celebration, there’s nothing better.”
Second-year forward Palmire Mbu led the way with her best scoring performance of conference play, finishing with 23 points. She managed the Rams’ first seven points, scoring a pair of layups and knocking down a three.
Mbu also led the defense with a pair of blocks in the first quarter as the Rams went on a six-point run to lead 11-2.
Adding a pair of free throws, Mbu brought Rhody’s lead to double digits before George Washington worked its way back to trail 19-10 at the end of the first quarter.
“We were just extremely motivated, especially today,” Mbu said. “I just tried my best, trying to be aggressive to give solutions in offense and in defense.”
Rhode Island forced a GW timeout with the first six points of the second quarter. Fourth-year guard Ines Debroise followed the break with a three-pointer for URI to keep the pressure on.
The Rams’ lead reached as high as 20 points as fourth-year guard Brooklyn Gray grabbed a second-chance layup. Gray and Mbu both connected from three-point range to close scoring for Rhode Island’s first-half scoring, ahead 40-25.
“Once we got that 15-point lead, it pretty much was over,” Reiss said. “We got back to everything we do, and we also shot the ball well, which was good to see.”
The Revolutionaries worked a six-point run in the fourth, but followed up with over five minutes of scoreless basketball as the Rams pulled every starter outside of third-year guard Sophia Vital to a standing ovation.
Fans spent the final 30 seconds of the game on their feet as Vital dribbled out the conference-clinching victory. Reiss and her team took their victory lap, thanking fans before cutting down the net as the A-10 Tournament nears.
“The last two games, we’ve had our best crowds, it was unbelievable,” Reiss said. “That’s why we go through the crowd, we hug them, we acknowledge them because they’re part of our Rhody family. They mean the world to us.”
From players, managers, coaching staff, to upper administrators and the team’s radio voice, Zach Austin ’23, numerous contributors had a chance to climb the ladder and cut their piece of the net.
“Everyone who touches our program they give so much,” Reiss said. “It’s really important that you acknowledge everyone who contributes, and everyone contributes to a win. Everybody.”
Rhody finishes as co-champions with George Mason University, with both teams tied in-conference at 16-2. The Rams hold the tiebreaker, giving them the top seed and avoiding facing the Patriots or the University of Richmond until a potential championship game.
“It’s really important to try to get in an opposite bracket when you have two really good teams,” Reiss said. “Putting yourself in the best position humanly possible to win an A-10 Tournament championship, so it was key to get that No. 1 seed going in.”
Earning the double-bye as a top-four seed, the Rams will wait until the quarterfinals to play the winner of No. 8 Loyola University Chicago and No. 9 St. Bonaventure University.
“It’s one game at a time,” Reiss said. “Focus, execute and then we move on to the next game.”
Three wins away from their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and first since 1996, Rhody will be in action on Friday at 11 a.m. from Henrico, Va. The game will be broadcast nationally on the USA Network with a radio broadcast on The Varsity Network.
