By Jake Brown
GoRhody.com Staff

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

UMass Starters
Taylor, Philoxy, Mayo, Ngalakulondi, Breen
 
How it Happened
Rhode Island's interior struggled on both ends of the floor in a 78-57 loss to Massachusetts Thursday night. The loss was URI's first in Atlantic 10 play and also snapped its 12-game winning streak. 
 
UMass (22-4, 12-1 A-10) opened the game with a 9-0 run and never relented. Rhode Island (21-4, 12-1 A-10) trailed by as many as 15 points before back-to-back Emmi Rinat 3-pointers got the Rams on track.

However, the Minutewomen dominated the paint scoring 20 of their 39 first half points in the paint, while taking control on the glass (28-17 advantage). The Rams used five 3-pointers to keep themselves within striking distance, but they went into the half trailing 39-28.
 
In the second half, Rhode Island managed to trim the deficit to nine points on three occasions in the third quarter. That was as close as it got. A 10-0 UMass run pushed the lead to 19 points with 3:43 left in the third, and the visitors maintained control the rest of the way. 

Inside the Box Score

• This was Rhode Island's first loss in 13 games at the Ryan Center this season. 
• UMass controlled the boards, holding a 51-29 advantage on the glass. The Minutewomen had 21 offensive rebounds helped them score 21 second-chance points. 
• UMass also had a 38-16 edge in points in the paint. 
• Sophomore Sophie Phillips was the only Ram in double figures with 12 points. She added three assists.
• Sophomore Emmi Rinat finished with nine points, two rebounds, and an assist.
• Graduate student Sayawni Lassiter had eight points, six assists, and three rebounds. 
• Junior Mayé Touré added five points and eight rebounds. 
• The game had a season-high attendence of 2,422.

What's Next
Rhode Island plays at Saint Joseph's Sunday, Feb. 19. Game time is 2 p.m. on ESPN+.