The University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team failed to enjoy the beginning of the holiday season, getting blanked on a three-game stretch against the University of Iowa, Idaho State University and Providence College.
The week began in paradise, as the Rams went to Mexico to compete in the Cancún Challenge. The first game in Cancún against No. 22 Iowa resulted in a 69-62 Rhode Island loss due to a lack of late game execution.
With a -7 point differential in the final 10 minutes against the Hawkeyes, combined with a seven-minute scoring drought, the product equaled a recipe for disaster that ruined Thanksgiving dinner for the Rams.
URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss, despite the loss, was pleased with her team’s efforts, putting up a respectable fight against a formidable opponent.
“Obviously Iowa is a very very good team, they have been to Final Fours, they have been to national championship games,” Reiss said. “But we got better today, and that is all we asked our kids to do. Prepare to win, compete to win and play together, and that is what they did.”
The 2023 runners-up entered the game averaging over 80 points per game, but with a tough Rhody defense on the floor forcing 22 turnovers, the Hawkeyes never truly took flight.
“[Forcing turnovers] is really what kept us in the game,” Reiss said. “Really not letting them just run that beautiful offense, pound the ball in the paint and go to work. So [I’m] really proud of our defensive effort today and I really thought that kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win.”
While the offense was scarce for Rhode Island during the final frame, fourth-year center Harsimran Kaur was able to drop a floor-high 21 points during the game, converting four 3-point attempts.
The Rams were not done in paradise though, as they still had a game to play on Black Friday against Idaho State. The Rams fell 52-50.
Kaur’s offensive leadership remained intact for the second game of the Rams’ tropical stretch, as the center led the Rams in scoring against the Bengals with 10 points. However, the fourth quarter woes were also consistent for Rhody, as the Rams were outscored 15-10 through the final 10 minutes, ending up on the wrong side of a 13-3 run through the final 5:32.
The Rams did not remain in the tropics all week, as they finished up on Wednesday night back at home, falling again on account of their fourth quarter performance. The Rams dropped their rivalry clash with Providence 48-45, with the Rams getting outscored in the final frame, 12-10.
The Rams scored just five points through the final six minutes of the game, going 2-10 from the field throughout the final quarter.
“You name it in the second half in the fourth quarter, there have been multiple games,” Reiss said. “[We] almost gave Brown away, this game so really our fourth quarter execution it’s really focusing on us and how we get better in that second half.”
The Rams have now trailed in the fourth quarter eight times in the last nine games, with the lone triumph coming in the win against the University of Massachusetts Lowell back on Nov. 17.
Up next, the Rams return to action in a familiar place, the Lavietes Pavilion, the gym where their 2022-23 season ended in the WNIT. Rhode Island tips off against Harvard University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast on the Varsity Network.