HENRICO, Va. -- Rhode Island’s “why not us” mantra has been extended to championship Sunday as the Rams punched their ticket to their first Atlantic 10 Championship title game since 2003, doing so by knocking out defending champion Saint Louis 68-62 Saturday afternoon at the Henrico Sports & Events Center.

“We’ve had a lot of good moments, but honestly, I just like how we all come together at the end,” graduate guard Teisha Hyman opined. “We all decided do we want it or not. I really like our unity and how we overcame obstacles.”

The Rams were led by Dee Dee Davis’s 16 points and 11 rebounds, her second double-double of this championship.

All-Conference Second Team selection Maye Toure also completed play with a double-double, her third of the season consisting of 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

Hyman provided a spark from the bench with her 12 points.

“I trust (coach Tammi Reiss),” Hyman says regarding fulfilling her role. “I know she knows what she’s doing, so it’s an easy decision when you get in, do your job. Whether you’re starting or not, when you get your minutes, do something with the minutes.”

Rhody won the rebounding battle 40-27, the paint 32-27 and points off turnovers 18-11.

“First and foremost, I have to give credit to Saint Louis,” stated Reiss. “Every time we play them, it is a heart stopper, a battle of wills. The difference today was we got stops at the end and we made free throws to seal it. I’m extremely of my team today on how they regained their composure out of halftime after that comeback. Instead of faltering we punched back and held together. That’s what it takes to beat a good team in March.”

Saint Louis saw Peyton Kennedy record 16 points and seven rebounds. All-Conference Second Team honoree Kyla McMakin swished 13 points and Brooklyn Gray 10.

“Both teams competed in what was a really good battle between teams that have fought their way to get here. For our team whenever you reach this point of the season you think about what the lessons from the season are. The biggest lesson for our team is love your teammates. We obviously had a fair share of adversity with a teammate going down and that’s really hard if you build trust and love amongst one another. It certainly impacted us, myself included and I thought our reset at halftime was really good. Our women said we were going to be courageous… Our team responded giving Rhode Island some adversity in the second half, just needed more time probably.”

This game got off to a difficult start as Saint Louis’s Marcavia Shavers pursued a loose ball towards Rhode Island’s bench. In her effort she remained down for several minutes.

When play resumed, it was the Rams who led by four points before an emotionally charged Billkens side fired back with Kennedy Calhoun scoring five in a row, giving her side a one-point advantage.

Hyman would have her voice be heard converting a layup after Sophia Vital made a steal and pass. Rhode Island would turn this into a 7-0 run and led 15-12 after one quarter.

While Saint Louis reclaimed the lead scoring four consecutive in opening the second period, Rhody used a 10-0 run which featured four different Rams scoring. SLU went 5:37 without a field goal as Rhode Island went up 10 points.

The Billikens called a timeout after Anaelle Dutat found Tenin Magassa down low for a layup and Davis made a jumper off of a turnover. Rhode Island closed the half on an 11-2 run taking a 39-23 lead into the locker room.

Saint Louis began to get back into this contest by scoring seven of the third quarter’s first nine points and brought the teams back to within single digits on a Kennedy three-point effort.

When Tierra Simon made a jumper off of a Kennedy pass, the teams were separated by six points. The Billkens got back on track entering the fourth quarter, trailing 52-46.

Rhode Island appeared to create some separation when a Phillips triple was nothing but net, however Kennedy’s and-one play separated made an already competitive game, a two-point affair. That was when Toure took the ball in the paint and finished with a basket and Dutat making a free throw placed the Rams in front by five points.

SLU did not make a basket after Kennedy’s three-point play. McMakin had two three-point looks to cut the deficit to one point, but neither held true.

“We love this time of the season,” concluded Toure. “Our season was a little bit rough, but we never lost our focus, and we knew that was what we were focusing on. Right now, we have the good chemistry we’ve been looking for all season long and just have to put everything together.”

Rhode Island will be playing No. 1. Richmond Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Atlantic 10 Championship title game on ESPN2. Tickets are on sale here.