Women's Basketball Picked to Finish Sixth in Atlantic 10

League Release | 2016-17 Schedule | 2016-17 Prospectus
 
Richmond, Va. – The Fordham women's basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 this upcoming season, according to the annual vote among league coaches, it was announced at Media Day on Tuesday morning in Richmond, the site of the 2017 A-10 Championship.
 
"I am not someone who puts too much value on preseason polls or teams," head coach Stephanie Gaitley remarked, "We have a talented team and some talented players. I believe our strong out-of-conference schedule will get us ready for the battles in the always-competitive A-10 league play."
 
Fordham finished tied for sixth last year with a 8-8 conference record, defeating Massachusetts in last year's lone overtime contest, 73-62, in the first round of the A-10 Championship before falling to eventual runner-up Duquesne, 70-65, in the quarterfinals.
 
"It's always great to get back to Richmond for Media Day and see familiar faces," Gaitley added, "This is where I got my start as a head coach but more importantly where we won our first A-10 Championship."
 
The Rams head into the new season returning four of its starters from a year ago – Danielle Burns, Hannah Missry, G'mrice Davis, and Lauren Holden, plus four-year player Danielle Padovano who is expected to replace Samantha Clark in the starting five. The squad as a whole returns six players who averaged at least 21.5 minutes per game last year.
 
Davis leads the returnees with her 9.7 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game averages from last year, but is closely followed by Burns (9.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, and a team-leading 76 assists) and Missry, the latter of whom set a new school record for career three-pointers made and now looks towards meeting the conference all-time mark. Missry has 239 career makes from deep, currently ranked T-12^th in league history, and needs an even 100 to set the new record. Missry has averaged 79.7 three's per season. Holden solidified her role as the team's starting point guard last season with solid contribution across the board with 6.3 points per contest on 33.8% overall shooting and 35.0% from deep, plus 55 assists.
 
Gaitley and the Rams also welcome several new faces to the team that should contribute right away in redshirt junior transfer and guard Tiffany Suarez, sophomore transfer and forward Mary Goulding, plus redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina and freshmen Breanna Cavanaugh and Anna Kelly.
 
Fordham opens up its season with its first-ever appearance in the Preseason WNIT. The Rams will host Furman in the first round on Friday, November 11, at 7 p.m. with the winner facing either Central Michigan or #2 Notre Dame.