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RHODE ISLAND vs. COLUMBIA - series notes 

• Rhode Island faces Columbia to compete in the Opening Statement, a women's basketball non-conference scheduling partnership between the Ivy League, American Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference and Missouri Valley Conference.
• Also competing in the tournament is host Belmont and USF.
• Rhody will face USF on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST.
• The Rams and Lions meet for just the third time in program history.
• The all-time series is knotted 1-1.
• The teams faced in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015, first losing to the Lions 79-69 in an overtime battle in New York before the Rams handed Columbia a 57-56 win in Kingston the following year.
• Rhody will play three Ivy League teams this season. After Columbia, the Rams face Princeton on Dec. 10 before hosting Dartmouth on Dec. 18th.

SCOUTING THE LIONS

• Columbia won their season opener last time out, beating fellow Atlantic 10 member Davidson 71-65.
• The Lions posted a 25-8 overall record last season on their way to the 2026 WBIT Championship. 
• Columbia became the first Ivy League basketball team since the 1975 Princeton men (NIT) to win one of the NCAA's major postseason tournaments.
• Senior Riley Weiss is Columbia's top returning scorer, netting a program-record 662 points last season. 
• She was named the 2025-26 Ivy League Player of the Year, 2026 WBIT Most Outstanding Player and was an AP All-America Honorable Mention. 

OPENING STATEMENT

• Rhode Island will be featured in a new strategic non-conference scheduling partnership featuring women's basketball teams in the Atlantic 10, the American Conference, Ivy League, and Missouri Valley Conference.
• Designed to elevate early-season competition amongst some of the top NCAA Division I women's basketball conferences, the agreement is a two-year partnership for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. 
• With events held concurrently in two cities, the structure will feature tournament-style events, bringing together top programs from the four highly competitive conferences. 
• The leagues will designate its top two teams to participate annually, creating a high-level showcase that provides non-conference resume-building opportunities for each conference and enhances national visibility for women's basketball. 
• The 2026 field alone features a concentration of Top-75 programs by NET ranking, creating an early-season environment designed to mirror the intensity and quality of postseason play and resume-building opportunities.
• Rhody will play Columbia from the Ivy League on Nov. 6. 
• URI's second game will be against South Florida from the American on Nov. 8.
• The event gives Rhode Island gives Rhode Island two top 70 NET opponents to open the season. Columbia ended the 2025-26 season ranked 45th in the NET, while South Florida was 68th. Rhode Island ended the season 49th in the NET.