Women's Basketball
Cooper's Double-Double Leads Rams Past Siena, 66-60
Nov. 17, 2008
ALBANY, N.Y. - Senior Sierra Cooper (Blairs, Va.) scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Rhode Island women's basketball team to a 66-60 win over Siena, Monday night at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. For Cooper, the double-double was the second of her career.
Senior Crystal Bellinger (New York, N.Y.) rounded out URI's double-figure scoring, chipping in 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal while classmate Amanda McGrew (Santa Monica, Calif.) recorded a game-high three steals.
The two squads traded baskets through the early minutes of the first frame before Siena's Sarah Fullmer hit a shot to make the score 11-7 with 14:39 to go. Back-to-back jumpers by Cooper and McGrew evened things at 11 before a 10-4 Siena run put the Siants back on top, 21-15 with 6:18 remaining in the half.
A layup by Bellinger, followed by six-straight Rhode Island free throws, then got the Rams to within one (24-23) but the Saints outscored URI, 11-8, through the remainder of the frame to take a 35-31 lead into the break.
Rhody opened the second half with a 16-5 run which was capped by 10-straight points - including two 3-pointers - from Bellinger for a 44-39 lead with 14:23 on the clock.
The Rams never looked back from there, taking their largest lead (58-48) with 9:35 left in the game and holding on for the 66-60 victory - despite a Siena rally that got the Saints to within a point (61-60) with just over two minutes to play.
For the game, the Rams shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-54) and were 19-for-23 from the line, compared to the Saints' 6-11 (54.5%) performance from the charity stripe.
The win improves Rhody's record to 1-1 while Siena drops to 0-2.
Rhode Island is back in action on Saturday, Nov. 22 when it takes on No. 1/1 Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
