Rhode Island starters
Johanna Muzet, Yanni Hendley, Marta Vargas, Mayé Touré, Emmanuelle Tahane

Massachusetts starters
Sydney Taylor, Destiney Philoxy, Ber'Nyah Mayo, Maddie Sims, Sam Breen

How it Happened
Massachusetts scored the first 12 points of the game, and Rhode Island was never able to recover as the Rams dropped their third straight game, 79-69, Tuesday afternoon.

The Rams (0-3, 0-1 Atlantic 10) did not score for the first 5:46, struggling to find any rhythm. That allowed UMass (3-1, 1-0 A-10) to maintain a healthy lead throughout behind a balanced attack that saw four players score in double digits.

Sydney Taylor and Destiny Philoxy led UMass with 19 points each, while Ber'Nyah Mayo and Sam Breen added 16 and 11 respectively.

Rhode Island, by contrast, had more distinct focal points. Emmanuelle Tahane scored the team's first 14 points en route to a career-high 22 points. She kept the team within striking distance in the first half.

It was Johanna Muzet carrying the water in the third quarter, when she scored 16 points. Her layup with 8:49 to go in the fourth quarter got Rhode Island within two points at 59-57, but Massachusetts used a 9-3 spurt to keep the Rams at arm's length.

Inside the Box Score

• Massachusetts hurt the Rams from 3-point distance. The Minutewomen were 7-of-12 from deep.
• Redshirt junior Emmanuelle Tahane made her first nine field goal attempts. She finished the game with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
• Tahane just missed a double-double, as she had nine rebounds and five assists.
• Graduate senior Johanna Muzet had a career- and game-high 26 points. After a modest four points in the first half, she found her groove and dropped 22 after the break.
• She added eight rebounds and two steals.
• Freshman Mayé Touré made her first career start in place of an injured Marie-Paule Foppossi.
• Freshman Catherine Cairns contributed eight points and was 2-of-4 from 3-point range. She has five 3-pointers through three games.
• Sophomore Kassondra Brown gave the Rams solid minutes off the bench, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds in 22 minutes.
• After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, Rhode Island had just four in the second half. However, the early carelessness led to a 22-16 advantage in points off turnovers for UMass.

What's Next
Rhode Island returns home to host Maine Friday, Dec. 11. Game time is 6 p.m., and it will air on Cox/YurView and ESPN+.