Rams triumph out of in-state rivalry with win over Brown

Photo courtesy of Michaela Benford

An in-state rivalry that Rhode Island has now come out on top of in the last four matchups, Rhody took down the Brown Bears 63-58 on Saturday afternoon

A domination on the glass, it was Rhode Island’s ability to create second chance opportunities that boosted the Rams over the Bears, leading 28-18 in offensive rebounds.

“[rebounding] is our identity,” URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss said. “When you look at our team right now, it’s the thing we do best and so if you watch us play, you go ‘Rhode Island rebounds the basketball, they go to the glass hard.’”

The rebounds kept a struggling Rams offense from the field afloat in the latter stages of the game. Rhody was only able to connect on one of their last 11 attempts from the field in the game, not connecting on a field goal in the final 4:39. Rhode Island struggled from the field throughout the entire contest, shooting just 32% from the floor.

“We’re not making shots right now, so we have more opportunities to rebound the basketball,” Reiss said. “It’s an ugly stat, most people, they don’t like doing that, they don’t like the relentless pursuit of the glass… today, 28 o-boards – that’s a lot of o-boards – and it won the game for us today.”

The Rams were not at a total loss from an offensive standpoint though, as several Rams stepped up and put points on the board, most notably senior guard Sophie Phillips. After a 14-point performance on Wednesday night, Phillips followed her mid-week showing with a weekend display of 16 points, converting on four baskets from the perimeter.

“Coach [Reiss] has just been preaching to us the last few days to be aggressive going into every single game,” Phillips said. “I think I’ve just had to change my mindset a little bit. I just got to realize I know the player that I am, and just be confident in that, so I think that is what I have been trying to do the last few games.”

Phillips’ accuracy from deep has improved drastically over the past two games. After shooting just 16% from deep in the first five games of the year, the guard is hitting threes at a rate of 33% as of late, and is now just 15 three-pointers away from claiming the all-time lead in program history.

Freshman Palmire Mbu made a great impact on the game as well, scoring points and rebounding at a career high rate. Mbu’s career-best 13 points and 13 rebounds also marked her first collegiate double-double.

The journey to collegiate basketball was not a seamless one for Mbu though, who played her first game in over a year on Nov. 11 after missing the entirety of last season due to injury. Now just four games into her Rhode Island career after sitting the first three of the season, the French forward is already making an impact.

“It was difficult at the beginning to be on the bench, I really wanted to play,” Mbu said. “And just being with the girls, I love to play with the girls so it is good to be back on the court.”

In addition to the 16 points from Phillips and the 13 from Mbu, several other Rams also joined the double-digit parade. Senior Honey Kaur and redshirt-junior Hawa Komara both had 11 points in the contest, helping contribute to the Rhode Island tally. 

The Rams are back in action with a tropical twist next week, as Rhode Island travels down to face Iowa and Idaho State in a pair of games at the Cancun Challenge. Both games can be streamed on FloSports and listened to on the Varsity Network, with the first game tipping off at 6:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.