The confetti that floated from the rafters over the weekend had long since been swept away by Wednesday morning. 

It was a visual reminder for the University of Rhode Island. Securing a share of the Atlantic 10 women's basketball regular-season title was a wonderful achievement, and now it’s in the past. The next goal for the Rams is to look up at that same Ryan Center ceiling and see an additional banner hanging there. 

When will the RI women play in the Atlantic 10 Tournament?

That mission starts Friday evening at the league tournament quarterfinals. No. 2 seed URI will face either No. 7 seed George Washington or No. 10 seed Duquesne in a 5 p.m. tip — the Colonials and Dukes met late Thursday night. The Rams were in the exact same position last season and fell to Saint Joseph’s, scuttling hopes of a second NCAA Tournament bid in program history. 

“This is supposed to be exciting and fun,” URI coach Tammi Reiss said. “It’s a lot easier to reset coming off the high of winning a conference championship than losing the championship on the road. It’s a completely different scenario with a different team.” 

More:How good was Tammi Reiss' season at Rhode Island basketball? She's the A-10 Coach of the Year (again)

URI was a heartbroken group when it made the trip to Delaware and Chase Fieldhouse last March. The Rams had just dropped a pair of games against Dayton and fell short of claiming the conference’s top spot. URI was upset by the Hawks, fell in the WNIT against Quinnipiac and limped into the offseason wondering how it went wrong so suddenly.

“I think this year, the energy coming off a regular season championship — it gives us an energy that wasn’t there last year,” URI guard Sophie Phillips said. “Hopefully, that can take us as far as we want it to.” 

The Rams (23-5) handed the Flyers an 81-57 walloping on Saturday, opening a 29-point halftime lead and coasting from there. URI’s balance was on display behind a game-high 21 points from Madison Hattix-Covington, who’s seeking her fourth individual berth in a league title game. The transfer from VCU is already a champion and March Madness participant — she's hoping to share another journey to those heights with a different set of teammates. 

“I think with new teams and young teams, you get pushed to a point where you fight back or you give up,” Hattix-Covington said. “I think our biggest thing was we never gave up.” 

Rams started league play 12-0 before losing to UMass

The Rams started 12-0 in league play before a blowout home loss against co-champion Massachusetts. URI needed a late comeback on the road to ground Saint Joseph’s and was stunned on a last-second shot at Fordham. Restoring order against Dayton and leaning on the experience gained from those tough tests could be invaluable over the next few days. 

“I’m really motivated because I want to win something with this team,” URI forward Mayé Touré said. “I love this team. The ones who are going to leave, I’m going to miss them.” 

The Rams graduated the majority of their scoring and rebounding from last year’s group. They addressed it through player development and the transfer portal — Touré was named Most Improved Player and All-Conference First Team while Hattix-Covington was selected to the all-conference third team.

Next goal is winning A-10 tournament game

Reiss claimed her second Coach of the Year award in three seasons while URI set new program bests in overall victories, conference wins and home triumphs. 

“I’m focused,” Reiss said. “I’m ready. I’m trying to get them to understand that champions never quit. Part of the process is you always get better. You’re always reaching.  

“What’s our next goal? What’s the next thing we’ve got to accomplish? For me, it’s winning an Atlantic 10 tournament game and putting a string of games together so we can get to an NCAA Tournament.” 

bkoch@providencejournal.com 

On Twitter: @BillKoch25