Women’s basketball falls short against Rhode Island 46-41

VCU second-year guard Cyriah Griffin shoots a three over a University of Rhode Island defender. Photo by Kendall Lott.

Daniel Pointer, Contributing Writer

VCU fell short of a comeback in a loss to the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday.

Rhode Island won the tipoff, but both teams started the game with stout defense. 

VCU scored the first basket of the night, with a driving layup from first-year guard Daija Preston.

A minute and a half later, Rhode Island fourth-year guard Brooklyn Gray scored a pullup jumper to give her team their first points of the night.

Gray continued on a scoring run with another pullup jumper off an assist by third-year guard Sophia Vital.

VCU opened the second quarter with a layup by fourth-year forward Makennah White from an assist by redshirt third-year forward Ann Zachariah.

Rhode Island responded with a pass from Vital — setting up a three-point jumpshot by fifth-year guard Valentina Ojeda.

This was a homecoming game for Ojeda, who transferred to Rhode Island in the offseason after spending two seasons playing at VCU.

Rhode Island’s Gray continued to be an offensive leader, as she scored her tenth point off of a pullup jumper.

In the following possessions, Rhode Island would score two baskets off VCU turnovers. 

Rhode Island’s scoring success led them to a 23-10 lead over VCU at halftime.

VCU struggled offensively in the first half, scoring just five of 24 shot attempts.

In the third quarter, VCU second-year guard Cyriah Griffin hit the team’s first three pointer.

Rhode Island’s Vital scored a catch-and-shoot three, but seconds later Griffin responded with a layup. 

VCU turned things up a notch on offense, with a hookshot from Zachariah being followed up by another driving layup from Griffin.

VCU redshirt fourth-year guard Ty Williams stole the ball from Rhode Island and passed to assist Griffin on her third layup in four minutes.

Despite coming off the bench, Griffin was an offensive force all night and scored more than one critical basket. Head Coach Beth O’Boyle spoke on the value of team depth.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re starting, if you’re coming off the bench,” said O’Boyle. “We’re a team that needs a lot of energy, and different matchups work different nights. And, y’know, I think that’s a credit to how deep we are, and that’ll hopefully continue to keep going.”

Both teams traded three pointers to end an eventful and critical third quarter.

The game was tight going into the fourth quarter, with Rhode Island slightly leading VCU 31-28.

After a minute, VCU’s Griffin found the basket on a driving layup.

On the next possession, Rhode Island’s Gray scored a three pointer, but she was answered quickly by a three pointer by VCU’s White.

Soon after, White hit a critical three point jumper to take the team’s first lead of the night at 41-39 with 3 minutes remaining.

However, Rhode Island fought their way back to a 44-41 lead after a three pointer from Vital and a midrange jumper from first-year guard Vanessa Harris. 

A foul on VCU sealed the game as Rhode Island allowed the clock to expire.

Despite the loss, O’Boyle remained focused on team positives in this game, one of them being an efficient third quarter.

“We need to be doing these kinds of things for 40 minutes, and loose balls and box-outs and all of those little things really add up so that we feel really good about the whole game,” O’Boyle said. “I think that’s really what we’re going to take into practice and take into our prep for Richmond.”

VCU will face off against their rival University of Richmond at home on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 12p.m.