Rhody Women Make Wild Shots to Remain Undefeated in A10
A stifling defense and another dominant performance from Mayé Touré spurred Rhode Island to its 11th straight victory as the Rams handled George Washington, 64-47, Wednesday night. With the victory, the Rams URI (20-3, 11-0 Atlantic 10) clinched its second consecutive 20-win season for the first time in program history.
Touré dominated the paint in the first half, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The score remained close in the opening quarter, with Rhody leading 15-10 by the period’s end. Touré’s work in the post opened the floor for the shooters in the second quarter. Rhody got 3-point baskets from Dolly Cairns, Madison Hattix-Covington and Emma Squires as part of a 10-2 run that extended URI’s lead to 34-17. George Washington (16-9, 8-4 A-10) managed to get the Rhody lead back to 11 points with just over a minute remaining in the half, but Rhode Island scored the final seven points of the half, the last of which came on a 3-point heave from beyond halfcourt by Ines Debroise at the buzzer to give Rhody a 38-20 lead at the break.
While the second half was not the prettiest brand of basketball, Rhode Island never let the Colonials back into the game. The Ram advantage never dipped below 13 points. Touré continued to score at will, adding 12 more points after halftime. While offense was tough to come by, Rhody had to clamp down on the defensive end. The Rams held George Washington to 33.3 percent from the floor and 2-for-10 from 3-point range. The Colonials, who entered the game shooting .347 from the perimeter, shot just 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) Wednesday night. The defensive effort enabled Rhode Island to coast to another league win.
Inside the Box Score
Wednesday was Tammi Reiss’ 100th game as head coach at Rhode Island. She is 66-34 overall. For comparison sake, the legendary Frank Keaney was 60-40 in his first 100 games.
Junior Mayé Touré recorded her 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 26 points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes.
She was 10-for-13 from the field while also blocking three shots.
Graduate student Madison Hattix-Covington was the only other Ram in double digits, scoring 10 points to go with four boards.
Hattix-Covington scored the 1,000th point of her collegiate career.
Freshman Anaelle Dutat had 11 rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Rhode Island had a 48-34 edge on the glass and a 16-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Graduate student Emma Squires had nine points and three rebounds.
Rhode Island had 18 assists on 22 field goals. Graduate student Sayawni Lassiter had five assists, while freshmen Ines Debroise and Anaelle Dutat each had four.
What’s Next
Rhode Island travels to VCU Sunday, Feb. 12. The nationally-televised game will air on ESPNU with a noon start.
