URI Women Set Program Record For Wins On Rams Senior Night

University of Rhode Island Press Release

Rhode Island Starters
Williams, Foppossi, Vargas, Elmore, Tahane

St. Bonaventure Starters
Harris, A. Johnson, Lops, T. Johnson, Adams

How it Happened
Rhode Island left it all on the floor in its final regular-season home game, dominating St. Bonaventure in a 67-54 victory Wednesday night. With the win, URI improves to 22-4 on the season, giving the 2021-22 Rams more victories in a season than any other team in program history.

Rhody got off to a slow start, going just 2-for-11 from the field over the first six and a half minutes. Trailing 11-6 with 3:11 left to play in the period, Marie-Paule Foppossi drained a 3-pointer to spark a 10-4 run that ended the quarter with the Rams up 16-15. During the late push, Foppossi had six of URI’s 10 points.

Rhode Island carried the momentum into the second quarter, connecting on seven of its first nine attempts to stretch the lead to double digits at 31-20. St. Bonaventure’s next three baskets all came from behind the arc, cutting Rhody’s advantage to seven (36-29) before Chanell Williams hit a shot clock-beating 3-ball to put the Rams back up by 10 (39-29). That was Rhody’s final basket of the half however as SBU’s Asianae Johnson scored six consecutive points down the stretch to make it a 39-35 game heading into halftime.

Rhode Island shot 48.5 percent from the field in the first half, and had a 7-0 edge in second-chance points thanks to an 18-12 rebounding advantage – which included eight offensive boards.

After the break, the Bonnies fought their way back, making it a one-possession game on a trey by Tori Harris that cut URI’s lead to 43-40. Rhody’s defense responded by holding the Bonnies without a field goal for the next four minutes, and Foppossi scored the final five points of the quarter to send Rhode Island into the fourth leading 56-46.

The Rams led by double digits the rest of the way, pushing the advantage to as many as 17 (66-49) on a fast break basket by Williams with two and a half minutes left in the game.

Inside the Box Score

• Prior to the start of the game, Rhode Island held a brief ceremony to recognize the five Rams playing in their final regular-season home game: redshirt junior Marie-Paule Foppossi, redshirt senior Emmanuelle Tahane and graduate students Marta Vargas, Dez Elmore and Chanell Williams.
• Those five players made up URI’s starting lineup.
• Foppossi matched her season-high, scoring 23 points. She flirted with a triple-double as she also recorded a career-high nine assists and added seven rebounds, as well as three steals and one block.
• Elmore finished the night with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
• Williams was the third Ram to score in double figures, recording 11 points on the night. She also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Tahane added eight rebounds, six points, two steals and one assist.
• Vargas finished the night with five points and one rebound.
• Sophomore Dolly Cairns added five points – on one 3-pointer and a pair of free throws – and finished the game leading the team with a plus-minus rating of +22 in 29 minutes on the floor.
• As a team, Rhode Island forced St. Bonaventure into 24 turnovers – the most by any opponent this season. The 24 miscues were also a season-high for the Bonnies.
• The Rams have now forced opponents into 20-or-more turnovers six times this season.

Up Next
Rhode Island travels to Dayton to close out the regular season at Dayton on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff at UD Arena is set for 2 p.m.