Rhode Island women’s basketball conference schedule unveiled. Here’s a look

There will be a lone scheduled rematch of last year’s Atlantic 10 women’s basketball title game, and the University of Rhode Island will play it on the road. 

The Rams will visit Richmond at a date and time to be determined. That’s courtesy of conference schedule pairings that were released Thursday afternoon. 

The Spiders and VCU should offer a pair of rugged road tests after finishing a combined 31-5 in league play last season. URI also visits Davidson, Fordham and St. Bonaventure for single contests. Jim Crowley enters his second year of this stint with the Bonnies – he returned to Olean for 2022-23 after seven seasons at Providence. 

Saint Joseph’s sets up as a headlining single home game for the Rams. The Hawks closed 15-3 in league play last year and have played in two straight postseasons. Dayton, La Salle, George Washington and Loyola Chicago will also visit Kingston. 

More: URI men’s basketball faces rough road schedule in 2023-24

URI’s home-and-home opponents include a pair of teams who contended for a conference title last season. George Mason closed 14-4 and Duquesne was one game behind at 13-5. Saint Louis and regional rival Massachusetts both finished in the bottom half of the standings – the Minutewomen struggled to a 2-16 mark after Tory Verdi qualified for three straight postseasons and left for Pittsburgh. 

The Rams never quite hit full stride prior to March last season, finishing 21-14 overall and 10-8 in league play. A home win over No. 25 Princeton was followed by road losses to Providence and St. John’s, two defeats that damaged URI’s postseason chances. The Rams took out Dayton, Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis in the conference tournament before suffering a 65-51 defeat to Richmond in the title round. 

URI and the rest of the league will return to the Henrico Sports & Events Center from March 5-9 for the second straight edition of the league championship. The facility secured hosting rights after two previous years at Chase Fieldhouse in Delaware. 

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25