Rhode Islands Starters
Cairns, Squires, Touré, Hattix-Covington, Lassiter

Saint Joseph's Starters
Brugler, Ziegler, Mullins, Jekot, Smith

How it Happened
Rhode Island battled through two extra periods for a double overtime victory at the Ryan Center in front of 1,415 fans Wednesday night. The Rams outscored the visiting Hawks 6-2 down the stretch to remain undefeated in both conference play (9-0) and at home (11-0).

St. Joe's scored their first four points of the contest at the free throw line. The Rams held the Hawks to without a field goal in the first quarter until the 1:04 mark (11-6). Saint Joseph's had a 7-0 run in the second period to get within one (16-15). But the Rams answered, building their lead to eight after a Mayé Touré jumper ( 27-19). The Hawks hit a last-second 3-pointer to go into the break down five. 

The second half started with back-and-forth action, and the Rams started to separate themselves after a Sophie Phillips 3-pointer made the score 40-32. But the Hawks wouldn't go away, scoring eight straight points to tie it at 42. The visiting Hawks shot 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the floor and the Rams went into the last 10 minutes of regulation up five (49-44).

The Rams were cold from the floor in the fourth quarter, struggling to connect on a basket as St. Joe's outscored the Rams 20-15 to force extra time. Rhody was able to hang on in the second overtime period, forcing the Hawks to shoot 3-of-18 from the floor (16.7 percent). Emma Squires hit a big trey to make the score 74-71 with 1:44 left of the second overtime. After drawing the foul, Touré had a successful trip to the free throw line to seal the game for the Rams ninth straight win. 

Inside the Box Score

• With the win the Rams improve to 18-3 and 9-0 in the Atlantic 10.
• Junior Mayé Touré led the Rams with 18 points, and a career high of 18 rebounds.
• Touré has 10 double-doubles on the season, placing in the top 30 players with double-doubles in the NCAA.
• Grad senior Sayawni Lassiter grabbed a career high of 13 rebounds. She scored six points and dished out eight assists.
• Grad senior Madison Hattix-Covington had 12 points, including a 6-for-7 performance from the free throw line.
• Sophomore Sophie Phillips was the third Ram in double figures, scoring 12 points off the bench.
• Rhody dominated the boards out-rebounding the Hawks 60-40.
• The 60 boards match the fifth-most in a game all-time. 
• The Rams depth proved to be strong once again, scoring 23 bench points to the Hawk's eight.