Women's Basketball Cruises Past Sacred Heart, 62-43, in Season Opener

"It means everything to come out open with a win and I feel good about our performance tonight," said head coach Tom Garrick."We've added a lot of depth this season, which has taken a lot of pressure off of Safi. With Crystal Bellinger and Megan Shoniker out there, its not all on her anymore - to carry people and think for people and put them in the right situations. She really did a great job putting her teammates in positions to be successful tonight."

The Rams trailed just twice in the game, as Alisa Apo opened the scoring with a three-point field goal for the Pioneers and Khalia Cain extended the SHU advantage to 7-5 with 14:43 remaining in the first half. A jumper by Shoniker tied things up for the Rams, who didn't look back through the remainder of the half, heading into the break with a 28-21 lead.

URI opened the second frame with a 15-5 run, extending its advantage to 43-26 after Mojidi drained a three and junior Tanja Licina (Belgrade, Serbia) nailed a jumper. The Rams maintained their double-digit advantage the rest of the way, leading by as many as 21 points (62-41) with 1:04 left on the clock.

"Offensively, we just try to look inside and work our way out," said Mojidi. "Our post players have good hands and good size and they finish well. Everybody on our team can knock down shots, so we've all got a lot of confidence in one another."

Licina finished the night with nine points and seven rebounds while senior Whitney Hollis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the squad with eight boards and three blocks. Junior Aija Veiksane (Riga, Latvia) was 2-2 from three-point territory in her Rhody debut.

For the game, Rhode Island shot 40.0-percent from three-point territory (4-10) and was 61.5-percent from the foul line (8-13).

The Rams (1-0) return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 13 when they travel to Boston University for a 7 p.m. game against the Terriers. To follow the action live, via Gametracker, click here.