Cairns big OT leads Rhode Island past Saint Joseph’s 50-48
KINGSTON, RI » Rhode Island freshman and Saratoga graduate Dolly Cairns came up big in the final minute of overtime as the Rams defeated Saint Josephs Sunday afternoon 50-48.
The win is the Ram’s fifth straight, who have improved to 7-5 on the season and 7-2 in A10 conference play.
Going into the fourth quarter, Rhode Island held a seven point lead, increasing it to nine early in the period. Then St. Josephs started to chip away. As the quarter progressed, the Hawks continued to make their free throws. The outscored Rhode Island 10-3 in the fourth. The game was tied 42-42 and headed to overtime.
The Rams did get an opportunity to win the game in the fourth, but the buzzerbeater attempt by Emmanuelle Tahane was blocked.
With the game tied at 4444 and 0:53 seconds on the clock in overtime, Cairns hit
a three off a kickout from Tahane, giving the Rams a 47-44 lead. After the Hawks responded with a layup and 0:27 seconds left, Cairns was fouled and made both free throws, putting the Rams up 4946. In total, the freshman scored five points in the final minute of overtime.
Another Hawk layup brought it back within one. Marie-Paule Foppossi made one-of-two
free throws for Rhode Island with 0:11 seconds to go, resulting in the 50-48 final score.
With the victory, Rhode Island moved into a tie for second place in the A-10 standings with Richmond, which defeated George Mason earlier in the day. Rhody beat the Spiders head-to-head on Jan. 15.
Foppossi ked RI’s scoring effort with 19 points, matching her career high from their previous game. Tahane had 9 points and 16 rebounds. Cairns totaled 8 points in the game from two three-pointers and two
free throws.
Cairns had a collegiate career breakout game on January 23 against St. Bonaventure, where she scored 22 points in 28 minutes on the floor. On January 29 against La Salle, she scored 17 points 31 minutes. She played 33 minutes on Sunday, scoring eight. Cairns has started just one game this season, meaning that she is getting significant minutes off RI’s bench.
Rhode Island is next scheduled to host George Mason on February 5 at 4 p.m.