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Freshman Sherrie Session sweeps past a Boston University opponent at Friday's University of Rhode Island women's basketball game.

URI women's basketball falls to Terriers, rebounds with Siena College victory

By: Matt Swiss

Posted: 11/19/08

11/19/08 - The University of Rhode Island women's basketball team won its first game of the season Monday, after falling just short in its opener Friday afternoon.

After losing to Boston University on its home floor, 50-45, URI bounced back on the road with a 66-60 victory against Siena College.

After winning the opening tip, Rhody senior guard Crystal Bellinger gave her squad a 2-0 lead that it would not hold onto for long. Boston University went on a 15-4 run that was highlighted by two three-pointers by senior guard Kristi Dini.

After a jump shot at the free-throw line by senior guard Christine Kinneary stretched BU's lead to 15-6, URI was able to stop the defeat, cutting the deficit to 15-8 just before the second time out of the game was called.

The third and final time out of the first half was called with 3:03 left, and BU controlled a 25-19 lead. The Terriers then went on a 5-0 run to close the half with a 30-19 advantage.

After BU came up short on its first field-goal attempt of the second half, URI was whistled for a traveling violation and gave the ball back. Boston University's senior forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley capitalized on Rhody's turnover and gave her team a 13-point lead at 32-19 when she made a lay-up just under a minute into the half.

Rhode Island then went on 9-2 run to cut the lead to 34-28, which BU answered with a 4-0 run to stretch the lead back to 10, 38-28.

Rhody stormed back with a 15-0 run where it grabbed its first lead since leading 4-3 in the first half. Crystal Bellinger capped off the run when she stole the ball away from a BU guard at half court and took it hard to the hoop, finishing with an easy lay-up. Bellinger finished the game with 15 points, nine of which came in the second half.

"Crystal did a good job for us in the second half," head coach Tom Garrick said. "One thing to take away is that we fought back. We were down 11 at half but we didn't give in and we fought back. We just fell a little short."

URI did fall short as the Terriers responded to Rhody's run with 12-2 run of its own. Burks-Wiley ended URI's run when she hit a turnaround jumper to cut her team's deficit to 43-40. Kinneary then cut the lead to one when she hit a lay-up and BU went on to hit eight clutch free-throws to secure the victory, 50-45.

Rhody's freshman guard Lara Gasper was a part of her team's run during the second half, as she scored five of her total nine points in that stretch.

"I thought Lara Gaspar grew up a little bit," coach Garrick said. "She's a freshman and hasn't played Division I basketball. I thought she took some strides forward and she'll be able to help us as we move forward."

Garrick added, "Overall we have a lot to work on. We didn't shoot a particularly high percentage. I think our defense played well. We had some unforced turnovers -- a little bit too many unforced turnovers."

The Rams responded from its opening loss when it picked up their first victory of the season with a 66-60 win over Siena College behind their senior forward/guard Sierra Cooper.

Cooper recorded her second double-double of her career when she posted 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in Monday's game. The Rams and the Saints battled back and forth in a high-scoring first half that Siena ended on an 11-8 run to push its one-point lead to four, 35-31.

The Rams then began the second half much like it did on Friday, as it grabbed the lead with a 16-5 run. The run was highlighted by 10 points from Friday night's high scorer, Bellinger, who contributed 10 of her 12 points during Rhody's run.

URI didn't trail again, maintaining its lead and holding on for a 66-60 win to improve its record to 1-1. The Rams hit the road this weekend as they travel to No. 1 University of Connecticut to take on the Huskies. Tip-off time is set for 1 p.m.