Women's basketball on six-game losing streak

02/19/09 - The University of Rhode Island women's basketball team fell for the sixth time in as many games last night, after dropping a 63-43 decision to Saint Louis University. The Billikens came into Rhode Island struggling, having lost four straight, and the Rams missed perhaps their best opportunity at a win in its current six-game skid. "We couldn't make a shot for some reason," head coach Tom Garrick said. "We're pressing. The kids are trying but they're pressing. They're missing layups and they're rushing shots."

Lack of offense was not the case in the first half, as the Rams never trailed by more than seven points and entered into the break trailing by only five.

"We're trying to get better and we're trying to get that win," Garrick said. "But every shot that they make and we miss, people get a little tight. I think that's what happened in the second half and then they just pulled away."

The Rams and Billikens battled back and forth for the first ten minutes of play and a jumper from St. Louis' junior guard Theresa Lisch gave her squad a 17-12 lead with just more than nine and a half minutes remaining. Lisch, who entered last night's game averaging 20.4 points per game, finished with only 10 on the night after going scoreless for the first 10 plus minutes.

"Other people picked up her slack," Garrick said. "She was being a facilitator more than she had to be a scorer. If we don't stop the penetration then she's finding people for easy shots."

After a fast break layup from St. Louis' freshman guard Alisha Goodwin, the Rams found themselves trailing by 7, 19-12, and used a 9-0 run capped off by two free-throws from senior guard Crystal Bellinger to grab their first lead of the game, 21-19. The Billikens answered quickly, using an 11-2 push to stretch their advantage to 30-23 over the final 5:13 of play, before a buzzer-beating turn-around jumper from junior guard Lindsay Harris cut the deficit to five, 30-25.

"Credit to St. Louis for coming in here on the road and getting the win," Garrick said. "But I don't think it had much to do with their defense. It was lost on offense."

Bellinger and Harris both finished the game with eight points, while sophomore guard Megan Shoniker led the way for the Rams with 12 points, including the opening bucket of the second period, cutting the deficit to three, 30-27.

Three was as close as Rhody would get, as St. Louis exploded for an 18-5 run, pushing their lead to 16 at 48-32. The run was capped off by a three-pointer from the Billikens' junior guard Katie Paganelli. Paganelli finished with six points, all of which came in St. Louis' dominating push midway through the second half.

Rhode Island's lack of execution from the charity stripe was a big reason why the Rams were unable to get any closer than 14 for the remainder of the game. The Billikens made their free-throws and ultimately pulled away to snap their four game win streak with a 63-43 victory over the struggling Rams.

"We've been consistently bad [from the free-throw line]," Garrick said. "It's not that we don't work on it. We think we have it corrected but when the lights are on you never know how people are going to react."

The Rams will search for conference victory number three when they travel to Massachusetts to take on the University of Massachusetts Amherst this Sunday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.