3 takeaways from Rhode Island women's basketball loss to Richmond

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — There’s still time for its lofty expectations to be met, but the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team is also still waiting for a step in that direction.

Rhody’s bumpy ride in conference play continued Wednesday night with a 68-49 loss to Richmond at the Ryan Center. It was the second straight defeat for the Rams, who had previously won three games in a row. The preseason favorites are sitting at 7-5 in Atlantic 10 play with two-thirds of their conference season in the books.

“We said in this room before the game — great opportunity, with a great team coming in, to get a win,” URI head coach Tammi Reiss said. “And we just didn’t play at any level to even compete with Richmond tonight.”

The Rams were short-handed again on Wednesday, as they were in Saturday’s loss to Duquesne. Third-leading scorer Teisha Hyman missed a second straight game with a leg injury, and backcourt sparkplug Ines Debroise joined her on the bench.

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The absences contributed to some ragged play for the Rams at the offensive end. Richmond built a large first-quarter lead and remained in front throughout the game.

Here’s a look at what went wrong for the Rams and where they stand for the home stretch:

First quarter put the Rams in a deep hole

Richmond is 9-1 in conference play and its success created an opportunity for the Rams. If there is to be a late-season surge, what better way to start it than with a statement?

Instead, the game’s first 10 minutes nearly buried the home team. The Rams spotted Richmond nine points. The Spiders made their first four 3-point attempts, while URI missed six of its first seven shots from the field. The 9-0 lead eventually ballooned to 22-5.

“There was a lackadaisical energy to us to open the game and you can’t do that against that team,” Reiss said. “They can really shoot. It was supposed to be defend the 3, take it away, multiple effort, rotate, talk — and we didn’t. You give up four threes like that and that set the tone for the game. We were playing catch-up the whole game.

"How you start the game matters. From warm-up on, from shootaround — it wasn’t a great shootaround. That’s on me. I’ve got to get them ready to play with a little bit more compete than that. That wasn’t Rhode Island basketball today. That was probably one of the worst games I’ve seen us play in three years.”

The Rams finally found a counterpunch in the second quarter, opening with a 9-0 run of their own and getting as close as six points. They still trailed by 13 at halftime, but had outscored the Spiders in the second quarter.

The gains evaporated midway through the third quarter. After trimming the deficit to nine points, the Rams hit a dry spell, missing seven of eight shots and committing five turnovers in the last six-plus minutes of the quarter. The Spiders shook off their own drought for a big finish to the period, rolling up a 13-3 run that essentially put the game out of reach. They stayed comfortably in front throughout the fourth quarter.

Richmond shot 52% from 3-point range and made 11-of-12 free throws. URI finished just 17-for-60 from the field and made three of 20 from 3-point range.

“I thought Richmond played an excellent game,” Reiss said. “Really executed well, both offensively and defensively. And I thought we were not ready to play today. We were not ready to compete.”

The injury bug hasn’t helped URI’s cause

The ups and downs of URI’s season have followed a similar trajectory to the team’s lineup inconsistencies. Hyman has been sorely missed over the last two games. Tenin Magassa missed a chunk of time earlier in the season. The Rams were also without Anaelle Dutat for several games due to NCAA eligibility issues.

The current situation is particularly difficult, with two major pieces of the backcourt sidelined.

“It’s really, really hard right now,” Reiss said. “Trying to find different lineups that can function and what we can run is very limited with certain lineups. If we go with the guards, they’re young and they make mistakes. We went with a big lineup to start today but it’s really difficult starting [Dutat] at the 3 with her inability to shoot outside shots.”

Health will be a key ingredient as the Rams look for a final push in the stretch run. Reiss said Hyman is likely out for another two weeks but is on track for a late return. Debroise should be back within the week.

In the meantime, URI must find its way.

“No one cares that you’re injured — they just care that they’re going to come in and beat you,” Reiss said. “We have to make the adjustments. We’ve got to find different lineups to get us through the game.”

Can URI break through against the A-10’s best?

URI still finds itself in the top half of the A-10 standings, but only one of its seven wins occurred against a team with a winning conference record. That was the victory over George Mason on Jan. 2, which remains Mason’s only loss.

Richmond has now beaten URI twice. Saint Joseph’s also owns a victory over the Rams, as does Duquesne.

The idea of a late-season push lines up with some golden opportunities that still remain. URI’s final six games include a rematch with Saint Joseph’s, plus matchups with VCU and Davidson, both of which have winning records. URI also will face St. Louis and Dayton, two perennial contenders who have had their own ups and downs this season.

“It’s not a quick fix,” Reiss said. “You don’t magically show up and win games. You’ve got to prepare. We have to do a better job at the intangible things. Sense of urgency, compete level, physicality — all those things it takes to win basketball games.”

The hope is to right the ship and be in a good position for the conference tournament.

“Our goal is to get healthy going into the A-10 tournament,” Reiss said. “Every game matters. Every practice matters. We take it one game at a time. Every practice and every game, we’ve got to get healthy, stay together and get better — not lose that hunger to want to win and not lose what can happen once the A-10 tournament starts. Just because possibly you can’t win the regular season, there’s a lot more to play for.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island women's basketball falls to Richmond