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- Registered: 7/22/2019
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GW versus University of Rhode Island Game Thread
Next up: University of Rhode Island Rams (URI)
Time: March 1, 2025; 1 PM ET
Venue: Thomas M Ryan Center - Kingston, RI
2023-24 Record: 21-15 (10-8 in A10)
2025 Projection: 8th
Current Record: 16-14
OOC Record: 5-8
A10 Record: 11-6
Common OOC: None
Last Time Out: 66-52 win over GW in 2023-24 (at GW)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Opponent Summary: WBB travels to Kingston, RI to meet the Rhode Island Rams in the final matchup of the 2024-25 A10 regular season. URI is another team that leveraged a challenging OOC to prepare themselves for conference play, and it has paid significant dividends. Their 5-8 OOC record included competitive losses to nationally ranked Iowa and to St. Johns and Providence of the Big East. At 11-6, the Rams have sole possession of 5th place in the A10, with a chance of moving up in the standings with a win over GW. After 3 straight wins that included an upset of St. Joes, URI fell to St. Louis on the road on Wednesday night. The Rams are led by San Diego transfer student Harsimran Kaur, a 6’4” forward who averages 12.4 ppg and 7.6 rpg, while hitting on 36% of her 109 3-point attempts. Sophie Phillips (9.9 ppg) has taken over 200 3-point attempts, providing another consistent outside threat. Hawa Komara completes the trio of top performers, contributing 7.7 ppg and 6.7 rpg. As a team, URI nets 61.3 ppg, while surrendering 55.8 to opponents. They are shooting 40.2% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc. Their assist-to-turnover ratio is a solid .9.
About the game: URI is playing at home with a chance to be a top 4 team in the conference. As far as the standings go, this game is inconsequential for GW, who will finish in the bottom 4, regardless of the outcome. Kaur will be a tough matchup, especially because of her ability from the perimeter, but double-teaming her could open thing up for Phillips, so the defense has to be smart about how they pick their poison. On offense, the team has to reduce the number of 3-point attempts. Andrews’ bank-shot triple against UMASS was her first in A10 play and followed an 0-28 skid dating back to early December. Others have only been erratic at best. The only Rev who has improved with more playing time and attempts is Sims, who is now up to a respectable 38.2%. Had several of the 15 3-point misses been taken to the inside, just minimal success or subsequent trips to the free throw line could have changed the outcome of the UMASS game. The Rams are a veteran squad that is unlikely to cave to pressure, but while the Revs have nothing to lose, at least the younger players have plenty to prove—whether they return to GW next year or not.
The A10 tourney awaits, but GW's prospects are slim. Regardless, it should be a learning experience for Reynolds, Lewis, Diala, Sims, and Calisto.
- xAC
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- Registered: 7/22/2019
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Re: GW versus University of Rhode Island Game Thread
Final Result: GW upsets Rhode Island in Kingston, 54-46.
Starting 5: Andrews, Engle, Lewis, Mott, Reynolds. In typical Revs-fashion of late, the inside game was working early, staking them to an 11-7 lead with 3:39 to go in the 1st quarter. At this point in the game, the Revs had not taken a 3-point attempt. GW couldn’t score after the timeout, but URI also struggled, trailing at the end of the quarter 11-9. GW’s biggest problem was Andrews’ 1-6 start, with several close-in misfires. In the 2nd quarter, Sims started strong on the inside and despite a pair of long treys by Kaur, GW was able to take a 20-17 lead into the 3:45 media timeout. Both teams continued to struggle after the timeout, but GW was able to hold onto a 24-20 lead at the half. Only a spate of missed layups by GW prevented the lead from being bigger. Anaelle Dutat led the Rams with 9 points. Mott led GW with 9 points as well, and Andrews chipped in 5 points. Offense was again scarce for both teams to start the 2nd half, and despite more in-close misfires by GW, the Revs were able to maintain a 29-24 lead with 4:59 to go in the 3rd period. Neither team improved greatly after the break, but GW was able to take a 36-29 lead into the final quarter. Some unforced ball handling errors by Andrews hampered the GW offense out of the gate, but they managed to keep the lead at 43-37 with 4:59 to go in the game. GW kept their composure down the stretch and by hitting some key free throws, ended the regular season with a 54-46 road win. Dutat finished the game with 17 points for URI. For GW, Andrews led the way with 15 points, followed by Mott with 13 points and Lewis with 11 points.
GW finally found a formula for winning – eschew the 3-pointer and focus on the inside game. The Revs took only 4 3-point attempts in the game, hitting on a pair of them. Contrast that with URI’s 4-26 exhibition, which allowed GW to control the inside with a 30-16 advantage on points-in-the-paint. The defense was outstanding today, holding the Rams to just 27.7% success on 65 field goal attempts, and holding their two best players (Kaur and Phillips) to just 4-13 combined. GW’s offensive focus was clear, but there were still miscues on execution. GW was only 11-26 on layups, and although Andrews led the scoring, her careless ballhandling and questionable shot selection hindered any offensive consistency the team was trying to develop. The Revs relied on 7 players today (Calisto and Sierra-Vargas played for a minute). Mott, once again was solid and Lewis had a good all-around performance. For most of the game, Reynolds was able to handle the full court press with her dribble and was able to control the offense in the half court. Sims had another productive game coming off the bench (3-5), especially posting up on the inside. This was a good win for GW and a good win for the players.
Now, the conference tournament awaits.
Last edited by xAC (3/01/2025 4:54 pm)
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