For the first time in 30 years, the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball team is headed to the NCAA tournament. The Rams secured their spot in the tournament by capturing the Atlantic 10 conference championship earlier this month.
On Saturday, URI faces a stiff challenge in 25-ranked Alabama. Can the combination of balanced scoring and a strong defense help the Rams become this year’s Cinderella story? Ocean State Media morning host Luis Hernandez posed those questions to Scott Brand, host of the Go Rhody podcast.
Interview highlights
On why the Rams are so successful
Scott Brand: They’re not just teammates, they’re a family. I know the word gets thrown around a lot in sports, but with this group, it’s real. You can feel it in how they interact, how they play, and how they support each other. In today’s college, basketball world players move around a lot, but this group has stayed together. Their two guard Ines Debroise just broke a record for basketball in Rhode Island for the most games played. She’s at 116, so that means she stayed here for four years.
The other thing is they recruit a lot of foreign players. A lot of people just don’t get it yet, but they’re the best people to recruit and they stay for a while. They need a family more than anyone because their family is in Finland or France or everywhere else. They’re looking for a family and Tammi [Reiss] creates the culture. They don’t pout if someone’s not playing and they want each other to do well, not just for themselves, but for the team.
On URI’s success in recruiting foreign-born players
Brand: That’s really how they became a great team. And Tammi, she has a phenomenal coach that she brought from Syracuse who has amazing international connections. (Adeniyi Amadou,) we call him Coach A because he has a hard name to pronounce, but unfortunately he’s going to New Mexico State.
With all the success that they’re having, what does that mean to the program? Well, there’s good things about it and there’s bad things. You get poached and the first one who was poached was the coach who brings in all the players. So it’s going to be very hard to replace a guy with that many international connections.
On the Rams’ chances against Alabama
Brand: Alabama averages 70 points, so Rhody has to keep them around 60. They’re not this huge team. One of their guards is 5’8, and they’re very three-point dependent. So if they’re not shooting their three-pointers, it’s not like they have that many other weapons. That’s what they go with. And what the Rams go with isn’t scoring; it’s their defense; it’s their execution in the fourth quarter. But I’m going to say Rhode Island 63 -Alabama 60. Defense is going to win the game over three-point shooting.
