Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball Defeats Mississippi Valley State, 63-46
Dec. 30, 2008
ATLANTA - Senior Tanja Licina (Belgrade, Serbia) paced the Rams with a game-high 20 points as the Rhode Island women's basketball team took down Mississippi Valley State, 63-46, in the consolation game of the 15th Annual Georgia State Invitational. Two other Rams finished with double-digit point totals as sophomore Megan Shoniker (Rochester, N.Y.) and freshman Lara Gaspar (Spa, Belgium) netted 10 apiece.
Junior Lindsay Harris (Upper Marlboro, Md.) led Rhody defensively, recording a career-high four blocks and a game-best 10 rebounds. She also dished out six assists and two steals while Shoniker added seven assists and a steal. Both played all 40 minutes.
Harris - who combined to total 16 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists, five blocks and five steals over the two-day tournament - joined Mississippi Valley State's Colby Stallings, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Jade Davis, and Georgia State's Brittany Hollins and Crystal Johnson on the All-Tournament team. The Panthers' Jylisa Williams was Tournament MVP after totaling of 26 points, 14 steals, 12 rebounds and nine assists in games against Mississippi Valley State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Mississippi Valley State (3-9) outscored URI 6-2 over the first five minutes before a Gaspar layup capped a 16-4 Rhode Island run that gave the Rams an 18-10 advantage with 8:22 on the clock. The Rams extended their lead to as many as 10 (23-12) - on a jumper by Licina with five minutes to go in the half - and took a 25-18 advantage into the break.
The Devilettes came out of the locker room and used a 10-7 push over the first seven minutes to cut Rhody's lead to four, but the Rams responded with a 17-4 run while holding MSVU scoreless for over four minutes to lead by 17 (49-32) with 2:42 to play. URI led by 15-or-more the rest of the way, going up by 19 twice - both times on shots by senior Sierra Cooper (Blairs, Va.).
Shoniker, Harris and Cooper combined to go 10-for-12 from the line in the final 91 seconds, helping lock up the 62-46 victory. As a team, Rhode Island was 87.5% from the charity stripe, connecting on 21-of-24 attempts. Rhody also out-rebounded Mississippi Valley State, 40-33, while scoring 19 points off 21 MSVU turnovers.
The Rams (6-7) return to action when they host Albany on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Noon. The game - which will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams - is the opening end of a Rhody basketball doubleheader as the URI men will take on Akron following the conclusion of the women's game versus the Great Danes.
