Historically, the Fordham Rams have always taken the win against the Rhode Island Rams. In their last eight meetings with the team, Fordham consistently came out on top. However, history has been ignored and Rhode Island took the win for the first time since the 2014-15 season. 

Fordham’s women’s basketball team hadn’t taken a loss since Jan. 23 against Dayton, but this past Sunday, Fordham came up short, losing 58-43. The Rhode Island Rams came into the game ready to defend their home court and their 12 game winning streak. And they were able to do so. Rhode Island also boasted an undefeated conference record coming into the contest. Fordham had over a week of rest heading into the matchup following a road win against Duquesne on Feb. 5. The team knew that Rhode Island would be tough to beat, but with their own winning streak to defend, they were ready to show the opponent all they had. 

Throughout the whole game, the Fordham Rams struggled to make shots. Fordham shot just 28.2% from the field and 20% from three point range, highlighting their difficulties on the offensive end. Senior Asiah Dingle and junior Anna DeWolfe had the most points for the team, each with 10, as they found themselves outscored by Rhode Island’s top players. Rhode Island was able to take advantage of the off-day that Fordham had. The Rhody Rams had 40 rebounds as a team, 31 of these being defensive rebounds. This created the scoring opportunities that Rhode Island needed in order to defeat Fordham.

Shooting and rebounds do not account for the whole story. Rhode Island had difficulty with the ball themselves as they had 16 turnovers. Fordham was unable to convert these turnovers into points, and it cost them the game. On the same end, Fordham had 13 turnovers that pushed the Rhode Island Rams to add to their winning streak.

With the loss, Fordham falls to 16-6 in the season and 7-3 in conference play, while Rhode Island improves to 20-3 and a perfect 10-0 in conference play. Rhody sits atop the Atlantic-10 conference, while Fordham is slightly behind in fourth place.

Fordham is back in action again on Wednesday to face the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Minutemen in Amherst, Massachusetts. The game starts at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.