Senior Day fares well for Rams in win over La Salle

Photo courtesy of gorhody.com and Connor Caldon

While complete domination was not the tale for the entirety of the game between Rhode Island and La Salle on Saturday – it was for the third quarter.

Scoring 33 total points in the third quarter, while shooting 84.6% from the field, the Rams put on a clinic out of the half. Galloping out to a 13-4 run in the first 3:35, the Rams maintained control for the entire third quarter. The period was also where senior center Harsimran “Honey” Kaur scored 13 of her team-leading 23 points.

“I think the talk at halftime [helped us],” Kaur said. “We got to keep going and put the pedal to the metal, but I think we kept our composure, we kept that poise and we kept going. That’s what we do and that’s something we struggled with in the last game.”

On top of her high-scoring performance, Kaur had a special day being celebrated for her Senior Day. Senior guard Sophie Phillips and redshirt-junior forward Hawa Komara were also celebrated for their four year careers in Kingston, but for Kaur there was something on top of the pregame ceremony.

The center’s family was in attendance, watching her play live in America for the very first time. Kaur hails from Punjab, India – almost 7,000 miles away – making it hard for her family to watch her play in her previous seasons with San Diego.

“It was really special to me,” Kaur said. “But I didn’t let that pressure [me], because I have coaches and a team and I didn’t let that pressure come to me and I just wanted the game to come to me.”

As emotions ran high for the three seniors, the tear jerking moments were also present for the coaching staff, mainly from their head coach.

“I couldn’t be prouder to call myself Honey, Sophie and Hawa’s coach,” URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss said. “I’d take any one of them, and all of them, and call them my daughters. And if I had a daughter, that’s exactly who I would want them to emulate.”

The Rams fought through the emotions to win their sixth game in their last eight, moving them slowly towards a double-bye position as the Atlantic 10 tournament slowly approaches. The win also doubled as Reiss’ 107th career win at Rhody, moving her into second place all-time in program history.

They did so by outsourcing La Salle in the first, third and fourth quarters – while having all but one player that touched the floor score points. The backcourt tandem of junior guard Ines Debroise and sophomore guard Sophia Vital both scored 12 points, joining Kaur as the double-digit scorers for the afternoon.

Rhode Island is back in action on Wednesday night when they host a powerful Saint Joseph’s team who currently sit at third in the A-10 standings. The game tips-off at 6:35 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+ with radio broadcasts available on the Varsity Network and RIU2.org.