On Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, the URI women’s basketball team made history by beating their rival, the Dayton Flyers. A dominant performance by the Rams from start to finish, not only did they beat the Flyers 81-57 but secured a share of their first-ever Atlantic 10 regular season title.
URI Takes Care of Business vs Dayton
Coming into the game, URI was coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Fordham at the buzzer. Even Head Coach Tammi Reiss noted her fear of starting the game off slow. Yet, right out of the gate, the Rams took control, making their first six consecutive shots, though, Dayton battled their way back… initially. By halftime, URI was up 53-24, with eight three-point jumpers and the team shooting 19 for 31 as a whole. Ultimately, the Rams were able to empty the bench and close out a historic year at the Ryan Center with a senior day win.
Senior Madison Hattix-Covington tied her career-high of 21 points in her final game at the Ryan Center with an amazing 8 for 10 shooting performance. Fellow seniors Sayawni Lassiter and Emma Squires also combined for four points, five assists, and six rebounds, making key plays defensively to build the first-half lead. Meanwhile, star forward Mayé Touré added 15 points, as Sophie Phillips and Emmi Rinat posted 25 points off of the bench. In the end, it was URI’s elite defense, lethal three-point shooting, and capitalizing on fast-break opportunities that won the game.
URI’s Historic 2022-2023 Regular Season
This year, the Rams set a program record for regular season wins (23). That’s not all though, as they added their most wins at home in a single season (14) as well. This was all accomplished during the Rams #Play4Kay pink game…
Onto the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament
This season, Reiss and the Rams have been arguably the best team in the conference. URI finished with a 14-2 conference record, though lost the tie-breaking coin toss to Massachusetts. That being said, Massachusetts is the one seed for the A-10 tournament, with URI being the two seed. The URI women’s basketball team’s first game in the tournament will come Friday, March 3, 2023, at 5 p.m.
