Follow us on social media:
Rhode Island
Rhode Island women’s basketball comeback attempt falls short — here’s how it happened
URI women’s coach Tammi Reiss speaks after Rams lose to George Mason
The Rams fall to 7-10 overall with Sunday’s loss, and 2-2 in Atlantic 10 play
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.
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.”
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.”
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).
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On X: @BillKoch25
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-
Technology9 minutes agoBlue Origin successfully reused its New Glenn rocket
-
World15 minutes agoDistress call captures tanker under fire, Iran shuts Hormuz trapping thousands of sailors
-
Politics21 minutes agoTrump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins
-
Health27 minutes agoExperts reveal why ‘nonnamaxxing’ trend may improve mental, physical health
-
Sports33 minutes ago‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42
-
Technology39 minutes agoiPhone and Samsung flashlight tricks you should know
-
Business45 minutes agoDavid Ellison hits CinemaCon, vowing to make more movies with Paramount-Warner Bros.
-
Entertainment51 minutes agoLarry David discusses ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ ‘Seinfeld’ legacies and new HBO series