The Rhode Island Rams (16-13, 11-5 Atlantic 10) defeated the Massachusetts Minutewomen (15-13, 10-7 Atlantic 10) 42-40 on Sunday afternoon in the Minutewomen’s final regular season home game in the Atlantic 10.
It took almost five minutes for either team to score at the start of the game. UMass finally got into a groove, scored first, and got out to an early 6-0 lead, forcing a timeout to be called by the Rams. After the timeout called by Rhode Island, they responded by scoring two three-pointers into the lead that the Minutewomen had. At the end of the first quarter, UMass found themselves up 8-6, and it felt like the game was going to be a first to 50 points, but was first to 40 points in reality. Both teams had scoring runs and scoring droughts, which made the game feel like it was a lifetime in some cases for how long it would take for a team to score. The Rams made key free throws down the final minutes that gave them the season sweep.
UMass had two players in double-figure scoring. Stefanie Kulesza had 11 points and 10 rebounds in her final game in the Mullins Center in the regular season and Megan Olbrys had 11 points and 7 rebounds to round out scorers in double-digits. Yahmani McKayle had 9 points, Allie Palmieri had 7 points, and Chinenye Odenigbo had 2 points to round out scorers for the Minutewomen.
Rhode Island had two players in double-figure scoring. Sophie Phillips had 12 points and Anaell Dutat had 10 points and 12 rebounds to round out scorers in double digits. Hawa Komara had 6 points, Ines Debroise had 5 points, Palmire Mbu had 4 points, Harsimran “Honey” Kaur had 3 points, and Ayanna Franks had 2 points to round out the scorers for the Rams.
UMass travels down to Washington D.C. to face the George Washington Revolutionaries (11-16, 4-12 Atlantic 10) on Wednesday, February 26th at 12pm. This marks the final game for the Minutewomen in the Atlantic 10, and it could not be a better way to go out than playing against another founding member of the conference.
Rhode Island travels out to Chaifetz Arena to face the Saint Louis Billikens (12-17, 6-10 Atlantic 10) on Wednesday, February 26th at 8pm.
Featured Image: Seth Bradley, UMass Athletics
