URI Women's Lacrosse Makes Big Strides In First NCAA Season

KINGSTON, RI — The University of Rhode Island women’s lacrosse team showed resilience and had some successes in their first season as an NCAA Division I program

The inaugural NCAA season started in dramatic fashion, with a one-goal victory over Merrick and a lopsided 18-1 win over regional foe Central Connecticut.

URI finished the season just one win shy of qualifying for the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship tournament. The Rams entered the regular season finale against Virginia Commonwealth University tied for the final playoff spot, but ultimately lost 15-9.

Qualifying for post-season play didn’t seem like a possibility when the Rams were 1-5 through their first six A-10 games. But the team steadily improved as the players established chemistry on the field.

"We had a great season," Head Coach Jenna Slowey said. "It took us time to figure out who we were and what the best combination of players was on the field, but by the end of the season we were an entirely different team. As we grew together, we hit our stride, and then we were clicking on all cylinders. You want to play your best in April and May, which we did."

Prior to the matchup with VCU, URI won three consecutive games. During the streak, URI was led in scoring by redshirt freshmen Caralie Basuel, with 15 goals and 3 assists; Brinley Myers, with 15 goals and 2 assists; and graduate student Caitlin Dellecave with 5 goals and 6 assists.

The team’s most dramatic victory during the stretch was a 17-16 nail-biter at Duquesne University on April 19. The Rams overcame a five-goal halftime deficit by dominating the Dukes 6-1 in the third quarter.

Even when wins were hard to come by earlier in the season, the Rams showed signs of improvement. In several losses, the Rams outscored their opponents in the second halves.

"I tell the players that if we win the moment, win the play, and get at least 1 percent better each day, then that’s success," Slowey said.

Slowey aims to follow in the footsteps of head coaches such as Beth Bricker and Alison Walsh, who turned out top URI women’s lacrosse players back in the late '70s and early '80s —when the university competed within the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women — prior to the sport being added to the NCAA.

After Slowey was hired by URI Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn in July 2022, she was tasked with filling an entire roster of players. Slowey had a successful track record of recruiting at the University of Richmond, where she was an assistant coach from 2017-2021. In 2020, Slowey and Richmond had the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the country, according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine. But attracting prospects to a program that wouldn’t play its first official NCAA game for a couple of years is a different dynamic.

"I had to sell them on a vision," Slowey said. "Building a championship caliber team and a championship caliber culture doesn’t happen overnight. We needed athletes that loved the process of building a program from the ground up and were excited to get to work."

The first player Slowey added to the roster was Emma Hughes, from Richmond, who was already enrolled at URI and playing on the club lacrosse team before Slowey was hired. Hughes was a former captain and All-Division midfielder at Chariho Regional High School, where she set school records for most assists in a game, in a season, and in a career.

"Emma is a once-in-a-lifetime type of person," Slowey said. "She’s the heart and soul of the team, which is why her teammates elected her as one of our three captains."

Slowey added 15 players in her first class of recruits. Since the program was still two years away from the first official game, the players practiced and played a couple of scrimmages.

One of those players was Basuel, from Fairfax, Virginia. The redshirt freshman finished second on the team in goals and points — 48 and 56, respectively. Basuel was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week three times.

"This season exceeded my expectations," Basuel said. "As a new program, we expected to face many challenges and, overall, we’ve seen a lot of growth from it. It’s difficult to simulate in-game experience, and this season gave us a lot of it. It’s been fulfilling to develop our team culture, and we're excited to see where the future takes us."

Slowey added 13 freshmen in her second class of recruits prior to the 2024-2025 school year. Completing the roster were transfers from other schools. Tri-captain Sami MacDonald was a graduate transfer who played three years at High Point University. Her sister, Sydney, was part of Slowey’s first class of recruits. The MacDonald sisters are from Medford, New Jersey.

"I’m grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity to play with Sydney," Sami MacDonald said. "What makes it more special is the opportunity to be part of URI’s first Division I team together. My sister was a big part of me coming here, but it wasn’t the only factor. The opportunity to build a program, compete in the A-10, and play for Coach Jenna was something I couldn’t pass up."

Four of the 12 players selected for the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team were from URI.

Besides Basuel, URI was represented on the All-Rookie Team by Myers, a redshirt freshman midfielder and the team’s leading goalscorer (49) from Danville, California; Calli Dunn, a redshirt freshman midfielder from Barnegat, New Jersey; and MJ Timpanaro, a freshman midfielder from East Setauket, New York.

URI goalkeeper, Casey Phelps, was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team. The redshirt junior from Olney, Maryland, led the conference in saves, averaging 10.63 per game. The computer science major had a 4.0 GPA and was one of 10 URI student-athletes honored at the Rhode Island State House as part of the annual Scholar-Athlete Awards.

"Within five or six years, we want to compete for the conference championship," Slowey said. "We’ll have our ups and downs, but it’s important to say our goals out loud."

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