Rhode Island Starters
Jones, Dale, Moffitt, Vargas, Jorgensen

Providence Starters
Webb, Williams, Spiwak, Baskerville, Orlando

How it Happened
Turnovers doomed the Rams resulting in a 58-51 loss against the Friars Sunday afternoon in the Ocean State Tip-Off Championship game.

Both Rhody and Providence (7-1) struggled to find consistency on the offensive end in the first half and combined for 21 total turnovers through the first 20 minutes of play. The Rams (6-3) showed some signs of scoring momentum, ending the second quarter on a 6-0 run to go in to the break up 28-25.

Rhode Island built its lead to as many as seven points in the third (38-31) after a Kassondra Brown layup. Providence answered with a 6-0 run to make it 38-37. Nicole Jorgensen ended the run with a jumper, but a 3-pointer by Alyssa Geary put the Friars up one (41-40) going into the last period of play. 

Rhody was down two with 2:19 to play (51-49) in the fourth. A strong Ram defense held the Friars without a shot from the floor for the remainder of the period, but Providence was able to connect on free-throws making 7-of-10 down the stretch. Providence pressured Rhode Island to connect on just one of its final six shots, leading the Friars to their seventh straight win.

Inside the Box Score 

• Junior Marta Vargas led the Rams with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
• Senior Nicole Jorgensen finished the game with nine points and three rebounds before fouling out for the second time this season. 
• Freshman Kassondra Brown provided a spark off the bench, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds. It was her third double-digit scoring effort of the season.
• Redshirt junior Erin Jones grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.
• Junior Maia Moffitt played great defensively for the Rams finishing the game with four steals. She added four points and four rebounds.
• After shooting 45 percent from the field in the first half, Rhody struggled in the second half including just a 27 percent shooting clip in the fourth quarter. Providence shot 40 percent in the third quarter and 50 percent from the field in the final quarter.
• Both Erin Jones and Marta Vargas were named to the 2019 Ocean State Tip-Off All-Tournament team.

What's Next
Rhode Island has the next week off before hosting Robert Morris next Sunday, Dec. 15 back home at the Ryan Center. Tip-off is set for 12 noon and is available on Cox/YurView and ESPN+.