HENRICO, Va. -- Before Rhode Island tipped off its Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal game against Saint Joseph’s it took a look around the Henrico Sports & Events Center, saw earlier results and had that energy that anything could happen.
When the Rams emerged from the tunnel, it did so with a simple refrain, “why not us?”
Rhode Island got one step closer to an Atlantic 10 Championship with a 57-47 victory over Saint Joseph’s Thursday night.
As the Rams enjoyed the victory, they walked to the official bracket and the excitement and joy the team felt as it placed its logo into the next round brought a smile to coach Tammi Reiss’s face.
“I have very reserved kids, I’m an extrovert, I’m a New Yorker, I love energy and our kids are very reserved,” she explained. “They’re very nice and sweet. This is the first time. Yesterday was big, today I have never seen them like this at all in two years. For me as a coach the fun they’re having, and to watch that, that’s what I love the most.”
Rhode Island was led for the second consecutive game by Dee Dee Davis, this time for 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The Rams won the rebounding battle 36-32 and points in the paint 30-24.
“We celebrated that victory in the locker room,” revealed Reiss. “I’d like to give credit to St. Joseph’s, they are an incredible team, a tough team, physical, well coached and I respect the way they play the game. We were ready today. We showed up with discipline and we showed up with physicality, the two things we did not have the first two times we played them. I couldn’t be any prouder of our team today of how it responded. They knew what it took to win this game and they did it for 40 minutes.”
In the win the Rams had eight different players both score or grab a rebound.
“We all know that we need everybody on the team to contribute,” Rams guard Ines Debroise determined. “Tonight, everybody was in her world and did what she had to do. It’s a real team win.”
Saint Joseph’s saw All-Conference First Team Selection Laura Ziegler record 12 points, with Chloe Welch right behind with 11 points.
“Certainly not the outcome that we set out to accomplish today,” Hawks coach Cindy Griffin opened. “We battled for 40 minutes and just weren’t able to convert offensively. When you score 47 points, it’s tough to win games. I thought our defense was okay but when you’re not scoring it just elevates every play defensively. It’s a tough way to go. We wanted to come here and win a championship, but it wasn’t our day. I give Tammi and her team a lot of credit.”
Rhody’s Sophie Phillips greeted the game with a three-point basket, breaking Charise’s Wilson single-season record for most three pointers.
Rhode Island stretched the lead to four points with a Davis layup. When Brugler responded from beyond the arc, Ines Debroise had the answer and then made a pair of free throws. Debroise keyed a quarter-ending 9-2 run, giving the Rams an 18-10 advantage.
“It’s March, so we don’t have time to start a game slowly, we have to start really well,” stated Debroise. “I think we did a pretty good job of being locked in at the beginning of the game and we just have to keep doing that for tomorrow.”
Saint Joseph’s struck back when it scored the first seven points of the second quarter, holding Rhode Island to a 5:29 drought without a field goal. The Hawks would later get back in front with a Ziegler three-point basket and would score five of the final seven points in the first half, taking a 27-25 advantage into the locker room.
Rhode Island opened the third quarter scoring six of the period’s opening eight points, but it was Davis’s three-point shot which saw the pendulum begin to swing.
Up by three points in the closing seconds of the third quarter, Phillips recorded a steal, successfully dribbling down the floor for a layup, placing the Rams in front 42-37.
Saint Joseph’s was undone by a 4:02 scoreless stretch in the fourth quarter, which while Rhode Island converted two baskets in that time, the lead reached eight as the Hawks were trying to find counters. With time not on its side, St. Joe’s sent Davis to the line repeatedly as she drained seven free throws, putting the game out of reach.
“We never fully got it rolling in conference and it almost reset us when the target was off our backs and we snuck in the back door in this tournament,” Reiss suggested. “No one thought that we were the favorite. You have no pressure, so the longer you stay in games with people, the tighter they get. Our kids are loose and free now. We’re healthy, we finally got our whole team together and we’re starting to find our roles and chemistry at the right time.”
Rhode Island will now look to exact some revenge on a Saint Louis team which ended its 2023 Atlantic 10 Championship.
The Rams advancing means that three of last year’s Atlantic 10 Championship semifinalists return to Saturday play with Richmond rounding out the trio.
These semifinals also include three lower seeds triumphing over higher seeds.
“I thought there were seven teams who could truly win this league,” explained Reiss. “The parody is incredible, that’s a tribute to the coaches and the student-athletes we’re getting in the Atlantic 10. When you have that combination, you have good teams. This year in my five years I thought this was the toughest year.”