Women's swimming and diving makes splash at Harold Anderson Invitational

12/09/08 - The University of Rhode Island women's basketball team lost its third straight game on Sunday afternoon, falling to American University, 77-58. Rhody was defeated for only the second time on the road and for the fifth time overall.

Despite the loss, Rhode Island had an impressive second half, shot a respectable 43.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded American, 30-25, for the game.

"When you're on the wrong end of a losing battle, there's not a lot of redeemable qualities," head coach Tom Garrick said. "But we outscored them in the second half by one point and we feel that we have something to build on."

Junior guard Janae Miller led the way for the Rams, recording 13 points, while senior guard Sierra Cooper added 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards.

URI was without its sophomore sharpshooter Megan Shoniker for much of the way, as she was in foul trouble for the majority of the contest. In 17 minutes, Shoniker dished out four assists and had two steals.

Rhode Island found itself on the wrong end of a number of big runs, as American was able to answer quickly anytime the Rams showed signs of coming back or pulling away.

After Rhody jumped out to an early 12-7 lead, American responded with a 22-6 run to push its lead to 11 with just under eight minutes remaining in the half. URI cut the deficit to seven, but American was able to pull away once again, outscoring Rhody 15-2 in the final five minutes. American took a commanding 48-28 lead into the break.

"It's physical," Garrick said. "When you make a run, you spend a lot of energy. When we sub, those subs need to come in with the same amount of energy as the people who subbed out."

Much of American's success was because of its lights out shooting from behind the ark. The Eagles connected on a total of 10 three-pointers, including an impressive 8-12 in the first half.

"They got hot," Garrick said. "It changed the whole dynamic of the game. It changed our scheme. We were trying to put significant pressure on the guards so they wouldn't hit those three-pointers."

Rhode Island did not help itself out, as it committed 24 turnovers, including 14 in the first half. The Rams did not take good care of the ball, as the Eagles were able to get in the passing lane for 11 steals.

"That's a big deal," Garrick said. "They did this run and jump type of defense that we thought we'd be able to handle."

Rhody came out strong in the second half, outscoring American 12-4 in the first seven minutes, to cut the Eagles' lead to 52-40. The Eagles answered quickly with a 13-4 run of their own over the next seven minutes, pushing its lead up to 65-44.

American increased its lead to 25 with less two minutes remaining, and easily held on for a 77-58 victory. American had an even distribution, as four players recorded double figures. The Eagles were led by junior guard Nicole Ryan, who contributed 17 points, while dishing out three assists.

The Rams look to pull closer to .500 as they welcome the College of Holy Cross to the Ryan Center Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

"We're 3-5 now and we need to get a home win," Garrick said. "We're going to come out playing hard and give our home fans something to cheer about.