Rhode Island Starters
Williams, Foppossi, Cairns, Elmore, Tahane

Fordham Starters
DeWolfe, Karpell, Heremaia, Downey, Jonassen

How it Happened
Rhode Island (20-3, 10-0 Atlantic 10) took over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10 with a 58-43 win over Fordham Sunday afternoon at the Ryan Center. With Dayton (19-4, 10-1) dropping a 60-58 decision at VCU, URI becomes the lone undefeated team remaining in the conference.
 
The win over Fordham also marked Rhody's first in the series since the 2014-15 season as the Bronx Rams entered the game having won each of the last eight meetings between the teams.
 
With the score tied at 10 apiece midway through the first quarter, Rhody hit five consecutive free throws – two by Chanell Williams, followed by three from Dolly Cairns – to pull ahead 15-10. Back-to-back jumpers by Emmanuelle Tahane later pushed the advantage to seven (19-12) before Fordham's Anna DeWolfe drained a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game at the end of the period.
 
A jumper by Cairns extended Rhody's lead to eight (27-19) with four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but Fordham responded with a 7-0 run to cut it to 27-26 with less than two minutes remaining. It was all Rhody from there however, as Yanni Hendley had a pair of steals and a 3-pointer in the final minute to help URI outscore Fordham 7-0 down the stretch and head into the break leading 34-26.
 
Fordham (16-6, 7-3 Atlantic 10) trimmed Rhody's advantage to nine several times in the third quarter but was unable to get any closer. Williams banked in a half-court shot to end the period with URI on top 47-35, and Rhode Island led by double-digits the rest of the way.

Inside the Box Score

• With 13 consecutive victories dating back to Dec. 8, Rhode Island now owns the nation's longest win streak.
• Rhode Island has now hit the 20-win milestone for just the third time in program history, and the first time since the 1995-96 season. That year URI finished 21-8. Rhody also had 20 wins in 1993-94, finishing that season with an overall record of 20-11.
• Dating back to last season, Rhode Island has now won 13 consecutive conference games and 18 straight home games.
• Grad student Dez Elmore led Rhode Island narrowly missed a double-double, scoring a team-high 16 points and adding nine rebounds. She also had two blocks, two steals and two assists.
• Redshirt senior Emmanuelle Tahane had her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points, 16 rebounds and three assists.
• Grad student Chanell Williams added nine points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds for the Rams.
• Redshirt junior Marie-Paule Foppossi finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.
• Sophomore Dolly Cairns scored seven points, including a perfect 5-for-5 day at the foul line. She also had three boards and a pair of assists.

Up Next
Rhode Island returns to action on Wednesday night when it hosts Dayton at 6 p.m.