Cairns leads Rhody in 6327 blowout of George Mason
KINGSTON, RI » Rhode Island blew out George Mason on Friday afternoon, with Saratoga graduate Dolly Cairns doing what she does best, hitting threes.
“Today they were ready to shoot. They had confidence and we really worked the zone. It was an all-around great execution of our gameplay. Everyone was locked in,” said Rams Head Coach Tammi Reiss.
Rhode Island won 63-27 after holding George Mason to just nine points in the first half, including only two in the second quarter.
Cairns led the scoring effort for the Rams with 18 points, all of which were from behind the arc. She was 6-12 on the day from the mark.
“That’s about having a wellrounded team and it gives everyone confidence,” Reiss said on having others players step up with normal top-scorer Marie Foppossi not scoring much early on. “You gotta have some other weapons and it’s good for them to get their confidence. I couldn’t be any happier.”
The Rhody freshman and former Blue Streak hit two threes in the first quarter and another three in the second, good for 15 points in the first half. She added a final on in the fourth quarter to get to 18 in her 25 minutes off the bench.
Marta Vargas added on 12 points for the Rams and Foppossi scored 10, who had a double-dou
ble with 11 rebounds.
The win over George Mason is the sixth straight for Rhode Island, who now stand at 8-5 on the season.
“We’re taking it one game and a time, it doesn’t matter who we play,” Reiss said. “We just have to be thankful that we get to play.”
She continued, talking about a change she saw in
practice this week and during the game Friday.
“Everyday we worked on zone offense and execution. It gave our shooters the mentality of ‘look, you are ready.’ Instead of having confidence in their shot, they were wondering what to do with the ball (earlier in the season). We’re going to shoot all week.”
The Rams will next travel to the Bronx, where they’ll take on 9-3 Fordham, in the battle of the Rams.