Rhode Island Starters
Cairns, Dutat, Touré, Hattix-Covington, Lassiter

Saint Louis Starters
McMakin, Calhoun, Martinez, Nicastro, Flowers

How it Happened
A furious second-half comeback was not enough as No. 2 Rhode Island fell to No. 3 Saint Louis in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday.

The Rams (24-6) fell behind by as many as 21 points in the first half. Saint Louis (16-17) dominate both ends of the floor. Reserve forward Peyton Kennedy scored 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting as the Billikens scored 24 points in the paint. Defensively, Saint Louis held Rhode Island to 20.0 percent from the floor (7-of-35), including 4-for-17 from 3-point range.

Despite getting 12 offensive rebounds, the Rams managed just two second-chance points. The cold shooting prevented URI from making a dent into the SLU lead, which grew to as many as 21 in the first half. At halftime, Rhode Island trailed by 17 points, 41-24.

Dolly Cairns hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark the Rams in the third quarter. Rhody held Saint Louis to nine points in the quarter while shooting 41.2 percent (7-17) to trim the deficit to nine points heading into the final quarter. Sayawni Lassiter hit a jumper with 41 seconds left in the period to make it a single-digit deficit.

The Rams kept chipping away, getting within two points when Lassiter drained a pullup jumper with 4:04 to go, making the score 53-51. Over the next couple minutes the teams traded points until Touré hit two free trows to make it 57-55 with 52 seconds left. Touré then blocked a shot on Saint Louis' next possession, and Lassiter got the loose ball and drove the length of the court. She was fouled before getting a shot off and made 1-of-2 to pull the Rams within one point with 21 seconds on the clock.

The defense came up big again when Sophie Phillips drew an offensive foul. The play was reviewed, but it was called a common foul despite Phillips taking an elbow to the chin. Rhody had the ball with 14 seconds remaining and a chance to take the lead, but Julia Martinez stole the inbounds pass and was fouled. She made both free throws to put her team up by three. A last-second 3-point attempt for Phillips went off the back of the rim and out, ending the game.

Inside the Box Score 

• Saint Louis scored 38 points in the paint, compared to 16 for Rhode Island.
• The Rams struggled to shoot, going 18-for-66 (27.3 percent) as a team overall, 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) from long range and 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) at the line.
• Despite getting 19 offensive rebounds, URI scored 10 second-chance points.
• Graduate student Sayawni Lassiter led the team with 14 points and added six rebounds.
• Junior Dolly Cairns had 11 points and three assists while shooting 3-of-7 from deep.
• Graduate student Madison Hattix-Covington was the third Ram in double digits with 10 points and four boards. 
• Freshman Anaelle Dutat had six points and 13 rebounds, while junior Mayé Touré added nine points and nine rebounds. 

Up Next
Rhode Island will await its postseason fate. The fields for both the NCAA Championship and the WNIT will be announced on March 12 and March 13, respectively.