Tammi Reiss Beats Alma Mater Virginia, URI 7-0 For First Time

A dominant second half led Rhode Island to an 80-70 win at Virginia Friday on the first day of the Cavalier Classic. The start is now the best in program history, as the Rams improved to 7-0 for the first time.

The Rams used the 3-point arc to take a slim 16-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. Rhody hit three of its first four attempts from deep, as Chanell Williams, Yanni Hendley and Emmi Rinat all connected from long range early.

Virginia (1-5) began the second quarter with a 14-4 run to establish a 28-22 lead following a layup and free throw by Amandine Toi with 3:58 to go in the half. Rhode Island steadily chipped away at the deficit, doing most of its scoring at the free throw line. The Rams were 9-of-11 at the stripe over the final 3:45, helping trim the Cavalier lead to 35-33 by halftime.

Rhody dominated the latter stages of the third quarter, using a 10-3 spurt over the final 2:35 to carry a nine-point lead into the final period. Emmanuelle Tahane – held to three points in the first half – scored URI’s final six points of the run, and her layup at the buzzer gave Rhode Island a 56-48 lead.

The lead grew to as many as 18 points after a Tahane layup with 5:20 to go. Virginia managed to get the score back to single digits, but the final result was never truly in doubt down the stretch. Rhody connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the final 40 seconds to keep Virginia at arm’s length.

Inside the Box Score
Entering the game, Rhode Island was 1-14 against ACC schools all time, with the lone victory coming over Florida State on Dec. 3, 1993.
The Rams also own wins over Virginia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse and Pitt, but all over those wins came before each school joined the ACC.
Rhode Island was 35-of-44 at the free throw line, setting the single-game program record for made free throws. The previous record was 34 against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 5, 1995.
Graduate student Dez Elmore led the Rams with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She was 8-for-10 at the free throw line and also had seven rebounds and two steals.
Graduate student Chanell Williams added 19 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. She was 14-of-15 at the stripe, tying her for the third most free throws in a game in URI history.
Redshirt senior Emmanuelle Tahane overcome a slow start to score 13 and add six rebounds.
Sophomore Dolly Cairns was the fourth Ram in double digits, scoring 10 points off the bench.
Redshirt sophomore Yanni Hendley gave the Rams a strong nine minutes off the bench. She made her lone field attempt – a 3-point shot – and scored six points.
The game was a homecoming for head coach Rhode Island head coach Tammi Reiss and assistant coach Sharnee Zoll-Norman. Reiss led the Cavaliers to four straight Final Fours (1989-92) while Zoll-Norman (’08) graduated as the program’s all-time leader in assists.
Up Next
Rhode Island takes on Long Beach State at the Cavalier Classic on Sunday, Nov. 28. Game time is 1 p.m. on the ACC Network.