Rhode Island Starters
Cairns, Squires, Toure, Hattix-Covington, Lassiter

Quinnipiac Starters 
O'Donnell, Haywood, Grisdale, Caverly, Morris

How It Happened
Rhode Island pulled away in the closing minutes, outscoring Quinnipiac by 11 points over the final three minutes to pull out a 63-55 road victory Sunday afternoon. The win was Rhode Island's ninth in a row, marking the second longest such run in program history, behind only last season's 13-game streak.

A back-and-forth opening quarter saw Quinnipiac (5-4) holding a four-point lead by the end of the period. There were four lead changes and three ties in the opening 10 minutes, as the teams got off to solid starts. The Bobcats did much of their damage inside, getting eight points in the paint. Rhode Island (9-1) on the other hand, used the long ball, getting 3-point shots from Madison Hattix-Covington, Sayawni Lassiter and Sophie Phillips in the first quarter.

The second quarter featured more runs by the teams, the biggest coming from the Rams. After Quinnipiac got the first basket of the period to move ahead 20-14, Rhody ran off seven straight points. Maye Toure hit two free throws before Dolly Cairns got a steal and set up Lassiter for a fastbreak layup. Lassiter was fouled on the play and made the free throw. A Madison Hattix-Covington layup capped the run and gave Rhody a 21-20 lead. The Bobcats responded with five straight points and a 9-4 spurt to regain the lead at 29-25. Rhode Island scored the final four points of the quarter as Hattix-Covington hit a turnaround jumper in the lane and Cairns drained a jumper to tie the score 29-29 before the half.

Both teams struggled offensively in the third. With points difficult to come by, Quinnipiac led 39-34 following a pair of Rose Caverly free throws with 2:59 left in the period. Rhody closed strong, as Cairns and Emma Squires hit back-to-back 3-pointers to go ahead 40-39. Squires added a pair of free throws for a three-point lead, but a Cur'Tiera Haywood 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the quarter tied the score 42-42 heading to the final quarter.

The back-and-forth play continued throughout an intense fourth quarter. Maye Toure scored in the paint to put URI up, 44-42. Rose Caverly scored the next three points for Quinnipiac, hitting a free throw and a layup to put the Bobcats ahead, 45-44. With 7:46 to go, Quinnipiac's Mary Baskerville was called for a pair of technical fouls after she got tangled up with Toure. Baskerville was ejected, but Rhode Island made just 1-of-4 at the line, leaving the score tied, 45-45.

After a defensive stop for the Rams, Sophie Phillips drained a 3-pointer for a 48-45 Rhody lead. Quinnipiac got one free throw from Mikayla Morris before Dolly Cairns hit a jumper for a 50-46 URI lead. Morris came back with a layup, and then Cur'Tiera Haywood made two free throws, tying the game again, 50-50. Jackie Grisdale got behind the Rhody defense on a backdoor cut and made the layup while getting fouled. She completed the three-point play for a 53-50 Bobcat lead with 3:40 to go.

From there, it was all Rhode Island down the stretch. Maye Toure hit a layup in transition. After Quinnipiac missed two free throws, Madison Hattix-Covington hit a layup off a feed from Sayawni Lassiter at 2:08, putting Rhody up, 54-53. Toure, Phillips and Hattix-Covington all went 2-for-2 at the line, helping extend the lead to 60-53. Hattix-Covington was sent to the line again with 25 seconds to go, and she made both attempts, putting URI up 62-53 for its biggest lead of the day. Quinnipiac got two free throws from Mikala Morris with 16 seconds to go, but the Rams were able to run out the clock and secure their ninth consecutive victory.

Inside the Box Score

• The 9-1 record through the first 10 games is the best start in program history.
• Rhode Island has outscored every opponent in the fourth quarter this season.
• Rhode Island entered the game 0-6 against Quinnipiac all time, including a 61-50 loss in the opening round of the WNIT last season.
• The game was just the second true road game of the season for the Rams, who are now 1-1 in away games. Quinnipiac suffered its first home loss in five contests.
• Graduate student Madison Hattix-Covington had her strongest game of the season, finishing with a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Junior Maye Toure had 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Graduate student Sayawni Lassiter had nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Rhode Island scored 22 points off of 26 Quinnipiac turnovers.
• Of the 26 turnovers the Rhody defense forced, four were shot clock violations.
• The Rams had a 22-9 edge in fastbreak points.
• Quinnipiac had an 8-0 advantage on second-chance points in the first half. In the second half, Rhode Island outscored the Bobcats 6-2 in second-chance points.
• After making three of its first four 3-point attempts, Rhode Island missed its last six attempts of the first half. URI was 3-for-6 from deep in the second half. 

Up Next
The Rams hit the road to face Quinnipiac this Sunday at noon.