By: Hannah Lorusso
GoRhody.com Staff

Rhode Island Starters
Phillips, Hattix-Covington, Lassiter, Squires, Touré

Duquesne Starters
McConnell, Bernard, Myers, Hamilton, Johnson

How It Happened
The Rhode Island Rams won their Atlantic 10 season opener Saturday at The Ryan Center over Duquesne 70-63.

A back-and-forth opening quarter left Rhode Island holding a 10-point lead to close out the period. Emma Squires scored from the arc to fire up the court for the Rams 40 seconds into the start (3-2). There were three lead changes, but Rhode Island dominated from using the long-ball as they were 5-of-8 from long range (63 percent) and Duquesne was 1-of-4 (25 percent) at the end of the first. Madison Hattix-Covington scored once from long range followed by Emmi Rinat who scored twice from using the long-ball. Sophie Phillips ended the period for Rhode Island with two seconds left to play and a successful shot from long-range (23-13).

The second quarter had a slow start as both teams did not score from the floor until Mayé Touré scored a layup for the Rams with at the 5:45 mark (25-15). Amaya Hamilton and Naelle Bernard of Duquesne both had successful trips to the free throw line, but Rhode Island continued to dominate the floor offensively. Phillips scored from the arc, and Touré had two successful layups leaving the Rams with a four-point lead going into the breaking (30-26).

The back-and-forth play on the court continued into the third quarter as the game was tied twice. Hattix-Covington dominated the floor as she secured back the lead with three successful fast breaks off steals from Touré, Sayawni Lassiter, and Phillips forcing Duquesne to call a time-out with 4:54 left in the third (41-35). Rhode Island went 4-of-5 from the floor, while Duquesne went on a two-minute scoring drought with 2:28 left to play in the period. Rhody then closed the quarter offensively strong with Ines Debroise shooting a successful 3-pointer, and a score of 48-44 going into the final quarter with the Rams holding the lead.

The back-and-forth never stopped throughout the game as the fourth quarter was offensively intense between each team. Lassiter opened the final quarter for the Rams with a successful shot from long range followed by another one minute and 30 seconds after (54-50). Hamilton and Ayanna Townsend of Duquesne both put the visitors within one twice throughout the first five minutes of the final. The game remained close as Hattix-Covington scored a layup with five minutes left in the final quarter, putting Rhody back in the lead (56-53). Hamilton of Duquesne then tied the game again at 56 with a shot from long-range off a fast break. Following that play, Phillips scored for Rhody and had a successful shot from the floor, taking back the lead for Rhody (58-56). Duquesne's Tess Myers made her first and only shot of the game to put the Dukes up one with a 3-pointer with three minutes left (59-58). Squires took back the lead for the Rams with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter with another Rhode Island shot from long range (61-59). The Rams used a 7-0 with 1:23 left, taking advantage of a two-minute Duquesne scoring drought. The Rams went 3-of-4 down the stretch at the free throw line to put the game away starting off conference play with a win.

Inside the Box Score

• Grad student Madison Hattix-Covington led three Rams in double-figures with 15 points. She added eight rebounds.
• Junior Mayé Touré had her second straight double-double, pairing 14 points with 13 rebounds. She dished out three assists.
• Sophomore Sophie Phillips poured in 14 points in her third career start. She handed out four assists, had two steals, and blocked one shot.
• Freshman Ines Debroise had a solid game off the bench, scoring three points and dishing out six assists.
• Grad students Emma Squires and Sayawni Lassiter added six points each.
• Nine of 10 players that saw the floor were in the scoring column.
• The announced attendance for the New Years Eve matineé was 1,394.
• Rhode Island had the 44-42 edge on the boards against the league's best rebounding team.
• The Rams also had the advantage in fast break points (19-9) and points off turnovers (18-13).