March 8, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - After advancing in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in four seasons, the Rhode Island women's basketball team fell in the quarterfinals to 13th-ranked and second-seeded George Washington, 70-43, at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joseph's University. Junior Amanda McGrew (Santa Monica, Calif.) led all Ram scorers with nine points on the strength of three first-half three-pointers. Senior LaQuanda Brandon (Washington, D.C.) added seven points and classmate Whitney Hollis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added seven rebounds.

For the Colonials, Jessica Adair led four players in double figures with 12 points as GW scored 28 points in the paint to URI's 14 and had 19 points off URI's 23 turnovers.

Things started well for the Rams as they built a 12-11 lead after two McGrew treys and a Crystal Bellinger (New York, N.Y.) jumper at the 15:30 mark of the first frame. George Washington took over after that and went on a 25-4 run and ended the half with a 36-17 advantage.

The Rams scored first in the second half when senior Safi Mojidi (Silver Spring, Md.) hit a short jumper to cut the lead to 17 but it would be the closest URI was the rest of the way. GW pushed it to 53-25 with 12:12 left and was never challenged after that.

All five URI seniors - Mojidi, Hollis, Brandon, Mia Marcus (New York, N.Y.) and Erin Cournoyer (North Attleboro, Mass.) - played most of the final 10 minutes of the game.

"The better team won tonight," said URI head coach Tom Garrick. "It was a tough way for our seniors to go out but I'm appreciative of their effort throughout the year and for their careers."

Mojidi ended her career as Rhode Island's all-time three-point field goal leader (185), while finishing third on the all-time assists list (354) and fourth all-time in scoring with 1,601 points. Hollis finished her career third in blocks with 65.

The Rams finished their season with an overall record of 13-18 - a seven win improvement from last season.