SOUTH KINGSTOWN — A missed free throw, a jump ball and a possession arrow pointing the wrong way was merely the final straw.

What came prior to that was largely what doomed the University of Rhode Island women to defeat Sunday afternoon.

George Mason matched its largest lead with 6:23 to play and held on for dear life down the stretch at the Ryan Center. The Rams left too much work to do in too little time and fell to the Patriots, 71-65, in what developed into an Atlantic 10 thriller.

More: With latest Rhode Island women’s basketball win, Tammi Reiss reaches century mark.

Kennedy Harris and Paula Suarez connected on the clinching free throws inside the final 16 seconds, spreading out what was just a 67-65 lead. It was the second trip to the line for Suarez in the last minute — the first offered a cracked door for URI to steal this one despite falling into a 66-50 hole midway through the fourth quarter.

“Any other game, we don’t come back,” URI coach Tammi Reiss said. “It stays at 15 or 16 and we take the loss, but today they fought. We can build on that.”

Sophia Vital’s driving layup with 22.9 seconds left capped a 15-0 run and brought the Rams within 66-65. URI had a pair of fouls to give and eventually put Suarez on the line to make the first of her two attempts. Louis Volker tied up Harsimran Kaur in the rebounding action when Suarez missed the second, and a whistle for a jump ball gave possession to George Mason with 17.2 seconds left.

“We missed the box out,” Reiss said. “If you hit, contact and hold, she comes over the back. When you don’t hit and are even to the ball, for me, it’s a missed box out.

“You’ve got to get a box out on that. You cannot give up a jump ball or an [offensive] board on that. It’s a teaching moment for them.”

More than a few fans in the crowd of 1,723 disagreed, but the end result was George Mason inbounding with a chance to make it a four-point game. Harris capped off her 18-point effort with a pair of makes at the line and Sophie Phillips missed a 3-pointer at the other end that could have given the Rams a thin final chance.

“We threw the kitchen sink at that team to try to disrupt them,” Reiss said. “It worked to a certain degree, but in the end, players make plays. Volker made a hustle play.”

More: Here’s what URI women’s basketball coach Tammi Reiss said after Olympic 3×3 team won bronze.

Suarez’s driving layup was the last field goal of the afternoon for the Patriots, who closed just 3 for 14 down the stretch after a 21-for-43 start. Ines Debroise scored half of her 12 points during the URI run, and Vital missed a 3-pointer from the right corner that could have tied a 66-63 game with 1:08 left.

The Rams opted for the best look available after a timeout with 38.3 seconds to play, and they ultimately never took another shot with a chance to draw even after Vital swooped down the right side.

“There was plenty of time — let’s get the best look,” Reiss said. “And then we’re going to throw our press on.”

George Mason (13-3, 3-2 Atlantic 10) overcame a 3-for-16 start in the first quarter to catch fire in the second. The Patriots built a 34-27 lead on a Suarez drive down the lane, and URI (7-10, 2-2) used a second timeout in 2:01 attempting to stop a 10-for-14 heater. The Rams faced a 36-30 deficit into halftime and found themselves in more trouble when George Mason mounted runs of 9-0 and 10-0 to build a 56-40 cushion with 2:55 left in the third.

“There was so much more game to play,” Harris said. “It was only the first half. I just needed that spark to get me going.”

More: Here’s how Rhode Island basketball’s ‘gritty’ performance earned them a conference win.

The Patriots entered solidly in the NCAA Tournament discussion and were coming off a stinging 88-86 loss to defending league champion Richmond. URI had won five straight over George Mason, including a dramatic finish in a 70-68 classic here last season. The Rams have now dropped two in a row, including their only home contest in a five-game stretch that now pivots to road matchups with VCU and Duquesne.

“It’s getting them mentally prepared no matter what,” Reiss said. “This team doesn’t really care. They don’t get too high and don’t get too low.”

GEORGE MASON (71): Zahirah Walton 8-14 4-6 22, Nalani Kaysia 0-4 2-4 2, Kennedy Harris 6-12 3-5 18, Paula Suarez 7-14 5-8 19, Ta’Viyanna Habib 0-4 1-2 1, Trinity Massenberg 0-1 0-0 0, Louis Volker 3-6 0-0 7, Nekhu Mitchell 0-2 2-2 2, Jada Brown 0-0 0-0 0, LeAire Nicks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-57 17-27 71.

RHODE ISLAND (65): Hawa Komara 7-12 0-1 14, Anaelle Dutat 0-3 0-0 0, Harsimran Kaur 8-24 0-0 17, Sophie Phillips 3-8 0-0 8, Sophia Vital 5-10 1-1 12, Ines Debroise 3-6 5-6 12, Palmire Mbu 1-3 0-0 2, Ayanna Franks 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Ledden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-66 6-8 65.Halftime — GM, 36-30. 3-point FG — GM 6-12 (Walton 2-2, Harris 3-5, Suarez 0-1, Habib 0-1, Volker 1-2, Mitchell 0-1), RI 5-18 (Dutat 0-1, Kaur 1-5, Phillips 2-6, Vital 1-3, Debroise 1-2, Mbu 0-1). Rebounds — GM 39 (Walton 7), RI 39 (Kaur 14). Assists — GM 11 (Suarez 4), RI 18 (Vital 6).

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“By engaging with stakeholders and implementing the Hospital Transactions, Prospect Holdings is prioritizing its core strength — focusing on operating community hospitals in California, providing vital care to underserved communities, and promoting patient and physician continuity — while ensuring these hospitals outside of California continue operations with proper financial support,” said Prospect in a press release around 11 p.m. on Saturday.

“Throughout the chapter 11 process, Prospect Holdings’ hospitals, medical centers, and physicians’ offices will remain open, and patient care and services will continue uninterrupted,” Prospect said in the press release.

According to the filing, Prospect named Paul Rundell, the managing director of Alvarez & Marsal’s North American Commercial Restructuring practice, as chief restructuring officer, managing the company’s bankruptcy process. It said Prospect had more than 100,000 creditors. It listed the company’s liabilities as between $1 billion and $10 billion, and its assets in the same range.

Prospect has owned Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima for more than a decade. Both hospitals care for some of the state’s most vulnerable patients, including many covered by public insurance. Investigators last summer found decaying conditions, such as bedbug infestations, cockroaches, mice, and other problems that put patients at “immediate” risk. In Connecticut, Prospect operates Rockville General Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital, and Waterbury Hospital.

Prospect, which also owns hospitals in Pennsylvania, has struggled financially for years.

Since late 2022, they have been trying to sell their two Rhode Island hospitals, and in June 2024 Rhode Island state regulators approved the terms of a deal to sell them to The Centurion Foundation, a Georgia-based nonprofit. Their approval came with dozens of conditions set by the health department and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office, which virtually guarantees that Prospect would not make a profit on the deal if the transaction goes through.

Ben Mingle, the president of The Centurion Foundation, said he remains “fully committed” to acquire Prospect’s two Rhode Island-based hospitals. “This latest development in no way diminishes our interest or enthusiasm,” Mingle told the Globe in a statement.

Neronha’s approval of the aquisition came after almost two years of deliberations between the parties, and working with regulators.

“We will work closely with all parties, including through the bankruptcy process, to advance the sale as quickly as possible,” said Mingle. “It is our hope that the court will recognize that after over eighteen months of formal review by the Rhode Island Department of Health and Rhode Island Attorney General, we have achieved full regulatory approval to secure these safety net hospitals, their 2,700 employees, and the critical role they play serving thousands of Rhode Islanders.

Regulators in several states, including in Rhode Island, have been putting pressure on Prospect over its troubled finances and deteriorating conditions at its facilities.

Neronha said he expects hearings for the Chapter 11 case to begin this week.

“If so, we’ll be there to protect Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals, workers, and patients,” he said. “Expect hospitals to continue as normal as Prospect attempts to effectuate sale to Centurion. We’ll continue to closely monitor.”

Prospect owes millions in back taxes, unpaid bills to vendors, and rent payments to landlord Medical Properties Trust, a national, publicly traded health care real estate investment trust. In its press release on Sunday, Prospect stated it would “pay vendors in full under normal terms for goods and services provided after the filing date.”

The fate of the thousands of patients and nearly 3,000 employees in Rhode Island will be determined by a process in which Prospect’s secured creditors will hold an interest in the system as collateral.

Prospect also has tried to sell its three hospitals in Connecticut to Yale New Haven Health. That transaction stalled after Yale New Haven Health filed litigation seeking to back out of its purchase agreement, citing decaying conditions at the hospitals. In a statement on Sunday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said his administration will “continue to hold Prospect accountable.”

“Our number one priority remains maintaining safety and quality of care at Prospect’s three Connecticut hospitals. We currently have an independent monitor overseeing operations at Waterbury Hospital and will increase oversight at Manchester Hospital,” said Lamont. “We will continue to work to evaluate opportunities to transfer these institutions to a new operator.”

Prospect, which was previously owned by a private equity firm, has long been controlled by wealthy financiers Samuel Lee, who now serves as the company’s board chairman, and David Topper, Prospect’s co-chief executive officer. In a statement on Sunday, Prospect’s other co-chief executive officer, Van Crockett, said filing for bankruptcy was “an important step forward” to best serve the company’s patients and employees, and that the company would be “better positioned to prioritize and execute its core strengths.”

“Divesting our operations outside of California will ensure that they receive necessary financial support so that the communities that rely on those facilities will maintain continued access to highly coordinated, personalized, and critical healthcare services long into the future,” said Crockett in the statement. “Through this process, Prospect Holdings will regain its financial footing as we rededicate ourselves to our original mission of serving the community.”

PHP Holdings, LLC and its related subsidiaries, including Prospect Health Plan, Inc., Prospect Medical Systems, LLC and its affiliated medical groups in California, Arizona, and Texas, Gateway Medical Center, and Foothill Regional Medical Center, are not parties to the chapter 11 proceedings.

Prospect executives are still finalizing necessary funding for the duration of the chapter 11 process, according to a company press release.

Neronha said Sunday morning that his office will have attorneys in Texas to represent the interests of Rhode Islanders.

“This is personal to me, as I know it is to Rhode Island residents. I have a couple of physicians in my family who regularly relay to me the challenges of providing quality care in the current healthcare landscape,” said Neronha in a statement. “And I’m certainly well aware of the struggles of our failing system here in Rhode Island.

“This is tough stuff, but it can and should serve as a catalyst for Rhode Island leadership to meet the moment and attempt to provide real solutions, not just lip service,” added Neronha.

This article has been updated to include a statement from The Centurion Foundation.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.

A woman is dead after she was hit by a car in a parking lot Saturday morning in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Woonsocket police tell NBC10 Boston affiliate WJAR that officers responded around 10:30 a.m. to the incident at 1919 Diamond Hill Road, the listed address for Ocean State Job Lot, and found a 74-year-old woman with critical injuries.

The victim was taken to Landmark Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, WJAR reports. Her name has not been released.

Police say the driver remained on scene, according to WJAR.

There was no immediate word if charges would be filed in the deadly crash. An investigation is ongoing.