Isaac Bean
Sports Editor
Rhode Island College’s Women’s Basketball team came into the Little East Championship tournament as the odds on favorite. The Anchorwomen were the team to beat all season, boasting a perfect 25-0 record heading into the tournament. Expected to win it all for the fourth straight season, the pressure was on the girls to win it again.
The Anchorwomen had a first round bye in the quarterfinals. They were set to play Eastern Connecticut State University in the semifinals at home on Thursday after the Warriors beat Keene State to advance in the tournament. The Anchorwomen had dominated the Warriors all season long. The previous two matchups between the two teams were blowouts. The scores of those games were 87-35 and 83-30.
The Anchorwomen, having two 50 point victories over the Warriors, could have easily come out flat. That was not the case for this game as the Anchorwomen came out firing on all cylinders. The first quarter ended with a lopsided score of 20-6 in favor of Rhode Island College.
The Warriors would pick up some momentum. They were able to hold RIC’s high powered offense to just five points in the second quarter. The Anchorwomen went into halftime with a 25-13 lead.
RIC’s offense picked back up coming out of halftime after a quiet second quarter. The Anchorwomen scored an impressive 26 points in the third quarter. The lead was now 51-31 heading into the fourth quarter of the game.
The Anchorwomen were able to do what they have been doing all season, close out games. The final score of this game was a commanding 67-40 victory in favor of Rhode Island College. This win would send them to the finals of the Little East Championship.
The Anchorwomen had nine girls score points in this game. The team's leading scorers were Madison Medbury with 15 points, Izabelle Booth with 13 points and Sophia Guerrier with 11 points.
The Little East Championship finals were set. The 26-0 number one seeded Rhode Island College takes on the 23-3 number 2 seeded UMass Dartmouth. These teams had played each other earlier in the season twice with the Anchorwomen winning both games. The first game was a 69-31 blowout, but the second game was much closer. The score of that game was 62-50.
It is always tough for a team to beat a team three straight times. Especially a team that had only lost three times all year. The pressure was on the Anchorwomen to win a Little East Championship at home against a team that was looking for revenge. The game's atmosphere was incredible. Rhode Island College's Murray center was packed with RIC students looking to see their team win.
The Anchorwomen came out in front of the home crowd on a mission. The game was even for the first five minutes of the game. The Anchorwomen started to lock in for the five minutes of the 1st quarter. The 1st quarter ended with RIC having a 15-8 lead.
Down seven, the Corsairs needed to have a more competitive second quarter. That was the case for their offense as they were able to put up 18 points in the second quarter. Unfortunately, RIC’s offense is just too good for the Corsairs defense. RIC was able to score 21 points in the second quarter giving them a 36-26 lead going into halftime.
Up ten points, the Anchorwomen needed to keep the offense rolling as the Corsairs were not backing down from a fight. The Anchorwomen did just that as they got up to 21 point lead after Booth hit a three pointer. The game was starting to feel like a blowout after the end of the third quarter.
The Anchorwomen were ten minutes away from winning the Little East Championship. The crowd could sense a RIC victory as chants of “Start the busses,” began to surface across the gym. Up 17 points, it was up to them to close out a victory like they had been doing all season long. They did just that as the Anchorwomen had beaten the Corsairs for the third time by a score of 67-52.
This was an all around team effort by the Anchorwomen. They had eight girls score points, four of them had double digits. The team’s leading scores were Jeniyah Jones with 14 points, Angelina Nardolillo with 12 points and Booth with 12 points.
This crowned the Anchorwomen with their fourth straight Little East Championship victory. The now 27-0 Rhode Island College looks to finish what they started last season and win a national championship.
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