Rhode Island Starters
Mbu, Syla, Gray, Vital, Debroise

No. 16 N.C. State Starters
Quigley, Jones, Pierre, Trygger, Brooks

How it Happened
Rhode Island went toe-to-toe with No. 16 N.C. State and pulled off the victory, beating the Wolfpack 68-63 on the road Sunday.

The Rams (6-1) forced 16 turnovers and limited N.C. State (3-3) to 7-for-19 from the perimeter, helping the Rams to dictate pace throughout the game.

Rhody had a strong opening quarter, outscoring the Wolfpack 20-18. Down 14-11, Rhody shot 53.3 percent from the field (8-of-15) while limiting the hosts to 8-for-23 from the floor. went on a 9-0 run that featured a pair of Vanessa Harris 3-pointers. The burst took 1:39 as URI took a six-point lead. N.C. State scored the final four points of the period to pull within two points.

The pace of play favored Rhody in the second quarter, as it took nearly four minutes of game play for either side to score. N.C. State's Qadence Samuels hit two free throws with 2:10 left in the half to give the Wolfpack a 28-27 lead. From there, Palmire Mbu scored six points for the Rams, helping URI carry a 33-30 edge into the half.

A torrid shooting effort by N.C. State gave the hosts the edge in the third quarter. The Wolfpack opened the third by scoring on its first seven possessions. The Wolfpack made its first five field goal attempts of the half and were 10-for-15 overall. Rhody weathered the storm behind the play of guard Sophia Vital, who scored nine points in the frame. The teams were tied at 51-51 after Zoe Brooks hit a late layup for N.C. State.

Destiny Lunan scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, getting a layup and a 3-pointer on the first two Wolfpack possessions of the fourth. The 56-51 lead was N.C. State's largest of the game, forcing a URI timeout.

Out of the timeout, Vanessa Harris hit a layup with an assist from Brooklyn Gray. Harris then came up with a steal that eventually led to a Gray jumper, pulling Rhody back within one point at 56-55. An Ines Debroise jumper put URI up 57-56 just under the six-minute mark.

An offensive rebound by Valentina Ojeda allowed Palmire Mbu to score a second-chance basket, capping an 8-0 run to give the Rams a three-point lead with 4:08 to go. After an N.C. State timeout, Tilda Tryggar got the hoop-and-harm three-point play to knot the score.

After the teams traded empty possessions, Zamareya Jones (17 points) hit a 3-pointer, to give the Wolfpack a 62-59 lead with 2:36 remaining. Vanessa Harris hit two free throws for URI to make it a one-point game again. Maddie Cox made 1-of-2 at the line on the other end of the floor, and Harris drained a 3-pointer to pull Rhode Island in front, 64-63 with 1:56 to go.

The defense came up with a stop on the next possession, and Palmire Mbu hit a layup to extend the lead to 66-63 with 53 seconds to go. Ines Debroise came up with a steal, but then N.C. State's Khamil Pierre got a steal of her own with 16 seconds remaining. Out of a timeout, Ines Debroise made a hustle play and knocked the ball out of bounds of N.C. State's Devyn Quigley, giving Rhode Island the ball with 11 seconds to go.

Debroise was fouled and sank a pair of free throws with six seconds to go, sealing the historic victory for Rhode Island.

Inside the Box Score

• Dating back to 2026-17, N.C. State was 137-16 in Reynolds Coliseum before Sunday.
• The game featured 11 lead changes and 10 ties, with neither side leading by more than six points at any point.
• Rhode Island had four players score in double digits.
• Freshman Vanessa Harris led the team in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 15 points while hitting 3-of-5 from deep.
• Palmire Mbu had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists.
• Ines Debroise scored 13 points to go with four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
• She was 4-for-4 at the free throw line, including the game-clinching shots.
• Brooklyn Gray added 12 points.
• Sophia Vital had nine points, all in the third quarter. She was 4-of-6 from the floor with four rebounds and three steals

Up Next
Rhode Island welcomes Princeton to the Ryan Center on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Game time is 1 p.m. on ESPN+.