Women's Basketball at George Washington Wednesday Afternoon

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (15-8, 6-3 A-10) has dropped three straight games in conference play since matching its best-ever start with six straight victories. The Rams will hope to bounce back from Saturday's loss at Saint Louis when they travel to two-time defending champion George Washington (13-8, 6-3 A-10) for a midweek national matinee on Wednesday at noon. The game will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.
 
Women's Basketball Promotions
There are several promotions going on associated with the Fordham women's basketball program.
 
Saturday, February 4 is the team's annual Alumni Day! For alums interested in participating in the game and/or the day's events, please click here
 
Saturday, February 11 is the team's annual Play4Kay Day, where the Rams, as well as all fans in attendance, are encourage to wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.
 
Finally, interested youth groups should check out the Women's basketball program's Harry's Hustler's young group initiative to attend home games and participate in a variety of activities and opportunities.
 
Last Time Out at Saint Louis
Fordham will want to move on as quickly as possible from Saturday's tough loss at Saint Louis, allowing 82 points to a well-oiled Billikens squad, a season-high for opponents in regulation. Junior G'mrice Davis tallied her 14th double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, while freshmen Anna Kelly and Kate Kreslina provided punch in the starting unit and off the bench, respectively. Kelly nearly grabbed her first career double-double, with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Kreslina bounced back from several subpar performances with 13 points. The Rams had no answer for Saint Louis' starting lineup, who shot over 50% from the floor and exactly 50% (10-of-20) from downtown, as well.
 
Series History vs. George Washington
George Washington holds a 19-4 all-time series advantage since 1996, the first season that Fordham competed in the Atlantic 10. The Colonials won the first 16 contests in a row until Fordham won, 59-56, in the Bronx in January 2011. Since Stephanie Gaitley took over the following year, the series is split 3-3 and 3-2 in Fordham's favor in regular season contests. The Colonials, ranked 21st in the country, were victorious during the 2015 A-10 Championship. The Rams won, 76-69, in the Bronx last February 3.
 
Scouting the Colonials
The two-time defending champs will provide yet another tough test for the Rams. However, the Colonials are without their star player, Caira Washington, who leads the league in field goal percentage but has also missed the past four contests. The 6'2 senior forward was averaging 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest to go with 39 blocks and 15 steals while shooting an 60.5% from the floor (89-of-147). Lexi Martins and Hannah Schaible have also been a big part of the team's success so far, averaging 11.1 and 10.1 points, respectively, to go with 7.8 and 6.2 boards, as well. First-year head coach Jen Rizzotti has a pretty tight seven-player rotation averaging over 20 minutes per game each. The Colonials began their season with a loss at Georgetown but rebounded to win seven of the next eight contests, with the only loss coming against #11 Syracuse by just three, 74-71. GW picked up three straight wins in league play and three more after a loss at Dayton but, like the Rams, have struggled with two straight losses, at Saint Louis and against Duquesne. The Colonials are have the league's third-best offense (66.0) and fourth-best defense (59.4). A big reason for that is the team's efficiency on offense (39.2%) and holding opponents to a league-leading 36.0% shooting from the field. The Colonials are, unspurprisingly, the A-10's top rebounding team, as well, with 43.2 per contest, but are not profficient from beyond the three-point line and at the charity stripe. With all that size and athleticism, it's no surprise to see GW atop the league's blocks list, but it may be a surprise to see them second in assists, too, with 16.0 per game. Mei-Lyn Bautista is in the top-10 in the league with 68 dimes and 3.2 per game.
 
Gaitley Three Wins Away
Stephanie Gaitley reached 100 wins with the Fordham program against Little Rock on November 19 and is currently at 113 for her Rams career. Gaitley needs just three more victories in the Bronx to surpass Kathy Mosolino ('74-'80) to become the all-time winningest head coach in Fordham history. She would also match the 116 wins she accrued while at Richmond, the second-most at any one school in her career.
 
Gaitley's 900th Game
The double overtime win over Albany on November 22 was Stephanie Gaitley's 900 career contest as a head coach. She has a 577-342 record over 31 seasons with five different schools.
 
Second-Most Wins in A-10 History
Continuing the trend of Gaitley milestones, the win over Albany was Gaitley's 157th all-time as a coach of an A-10 school (Saint Joseph's and Fordham), passing Theresa Grentz for second-most all-time. Gaitley now has 170 but needs 71 more to break Joe McKeown's all-time record of 240 that he accumulated in 17 seasons at the helm of George Washington from 1989-2008.
 
Missry Hits 1,000 Points
Senior guard Hannah Missry needed nine points entering the New Year's Day matinee at Rhode Island to reach the career milestone and, fittingly, knocked down her first three triples in the first quarter to become the 19th Ram to ever reach the mark. The Manasquan, N.J. native accomplished the feat in her 110th appearance (105th start). Since, the senior guard has moved past Carol Elser '85 and Stacey Paukovitz '93 and is now in a tie for 16th all-time with former teammate Erin Rooney '14 at 1,062 points.
 
Fordham Seniors On the Accelerated Track
Featured in a Sunday edition of the New York Times, Ram seniors Danielle Burns, Hannah Missry, and Danielle Padovano's story was told of being the only three seniors in any program in the country to graduate in three years and get their masters as seniors. Interestingly, all three are also earning the same degree -- Media Management.
 
Conference-Only
Fordham is 6-3 in conference play after dropping its past three contests, at Saint Joseph's, at home to VCU, and at Saint Louis. Before that, the Rams had won three on the road and three at home to begin conference play 6-0, matching the program's best-ever start. In conference play thus far, Fordham is outscoring opponents 62.6 to 57.3 (+5.2). G'mrice Davis leads the way with 16.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and has a double-double in all but two games - against Duquesne where she missed it by one point (9 pts, 10 reb) and at St. Bonaventure where she finished with just seven rebounds. The junior is also converted her attempts at a 54.5% clip. Danielle Burns has been solid against conference foes, with 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and a team-leading 24 assists. Hannah Missry has hit 41.8% of her A-10 three-point attempts (23-of-55) and averages 9.3 points per game. However, during the three-game losing streak, the Rams are struggling from the field, shootng 33.5% oevrall (57-of-170) and just 20.8% from deep (11-of-53). Fordham is slightly outrebounding opponents, by one board, but are struggling to create, with 9.7 assists, and are coughing up the ball 14.3 times per game. Davis has led the way with 18.0 points and 14.0 rebounds but only freshman Anna Kelly, off the bench, is averaging more than six points per contest (9.0). Fordham's other four starters are a combined 23-of-92 (25.0%) over the past three games.
 
The Bronx is Our House
The Rams are 11-3 this season in the Bronx, as opposed to a 3-3 record on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites. Fordham began this season with six straight home victories and had won three straight before the three-point loss to VCU.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
Last Wednesday's game at Saint Joseph's ended a 38-game winning streak dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season in which Fordham won when holding opponents below 50 points. Coincidentally, the last time the Rams lost in such a fashion was to the Hawks in the 2013 A-10 Championship game at the Barclays Center, 47-46. Fordham was 7-0 this season in such instances this season and had won three in a row holding conference opponents under 50. Overall, under Gaitley, the Rams are 47-5 in this situations.
 
Defense Part Deux
Through 23 games this season, Fordham's defense has limited opposing scoring to just 57.3 points per contest, ranking 32nd in the country. Part of that is due to the Rams' stingy perimeter D that has held opponents to just 28.2% (82-for-291) shooting from beyond the arc, currently situated at 41st nationally. The Rams were 12th in the country a two weeks ago after limiting UNC Asheville, Rhode Island, Davidson, George Mason, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Joseph's to just 16-of-76 shooting from downtown (21.1%) before VCU (4-of-8) and Saint Louis (10-of-20) each hit 50% of their attempts.
 
Three and D
Fordham is 71st in the country in three-point attempts (445) and 87th in makes (142) while playing terrific defense along the perimeter that has led to teams shooting just 28.6% from deep (41st in the nation).
 
A-10 Ranks
The Rams are back atop the league in scoring defense (57.3 pts/game) and are also first in rebounding defense, holding opponents to just 33.5 boards per game, and free throw percentage (74.6%). Fordham is also second in three-point defense (28.6%), third in scoring margin (+3.3) and field goal percentage (39.9%), and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (0.9) and three-pointers per game (6.2). On the individual level, G'mrice Davis' 12.4 rebounds per game leads the league as does her 9.6 defensive boards. Davis' 50.7% percentage from the field ranks third. Hannah Missry's 2.1 triples per contest ranks fourth-most in the conference.
 
Davis Boarding with the Best
G'mrice Davis has been a force on the glass this season, putting up career numbers across the board that has her near the top of Division I's rebounding lists (as of 1/30/17): Davis' 286 rebounds, 9.6 defensive rebounds per game and 12.4 rebounding average are all second in the nation. Additionally, her 14 double-doubles rank fourth in the country. Davis has tallied 13 or more rebounds in 13 contests and has notched double-doubles in nine of her last 11 contests. After grabbing just seven in Olean two weeks ago, Davis began a new streak with 22 points and 19 rebounds in her hometown against the Hawks.
 
It Takes Two to... Rebound at a Historic Rate
Anne Gregory ('80) is one of the NCAA's all-time best rebounders. She is the only Ram in school history to average 10 or more rebounds over a single season and she did it all four of her years in the Bronx. Her lowest total, 12.4, came in 1979-80 during her senior year and G'mrice Davis currently matches that through 23 games. She's at the very least on pace to become just the second Ram to ever grab double figure rebounds per contest over a season. Davis' 286 rebounds currently rank sixth-most in a single season and her 7.6 career average is third-highest in program history.
 
Actively One of the Best from Deep
Hannah Missry has amassed 288 three-pointers in her career in the Bronx and is fifth among active players in Division I for all-time downtown makes. Missry has recently passed Suntana Granderson (Xavier '04-'07), Lisa Cermignaro (George Washington '94-'97), and now Amy Waugh (Xavier '00-'03) in A-10 history to join Stefanie Collins (St. Bonaventure '02-'06) for fifth all-time in league history. Missry needs just four more makes to enter the top-fthree by leapfrogging Cathy Jones (George Washington '00-'04) and Suzie Dailer (St. Bonaventure '92-'95).
 
Davis, Kreslina Sweep A-10 Awards
G'mrice Davis and Kate Kreslina each earned their second weekly A-10 honors of the year last Monday afternoon. This was Davis' second consecutive award and she has found her groove in recent weeks. The previous week, the junior notched her fourth and fifth straight double-doubles and averaged 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds over two wins against Davidson and at George Mason. Davis tallied a career-high 27 points against the Wildcats in the Bronx on 11-of-15 shooting, a new career-high for makes. Kreslina, meanwhile, returned from a three-game absence due to illness, slotted right back into the starting lineup, and played 32 minutes against Davidson, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from deep, to go with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. At George Mason, Kreslina only played 21 minutes but hit the go-ahead bucket on a nice offensive move with just under three minutes to play and helped ice the game with 3-of-4 shooting from the line. The redshirt freshman averaged 11.5 points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.5%).
 
120 Straight For Burns
Senior Danielle Burns played in her 100th straight game in maroon and white against Little Rock and, on Saturday, became just the fifth Ram to ever appear in 120 contests. Burns hasn't missed a single game since arriving in the Bronx, making 120 consecutive appearances and 68 starts, including 45 straight.  The senior is currently fifth all-time in games played, recently passing Theresa Hrubash '82 and Kristina Bell '11, and needs seven more to tie Fordham legend Anne Gregory '80 and former teammate Abigail Corning '14. Fellow seniors Hannah Missry and Danielle Padovano recently hit the century mark against Grambling State and Princeton, respectively.
 
Burns Flirts with Triple Double at URI
Danielle Burns stepped up at Rhode Island on Sunday in the absence of Kate Kreslina to illness and G'mrice Davis for much of the first half due to foul trouble. The senior guard piled up 18 points, 10 rebounds (five offensive), and a career-high seven assists across 37 minutes. The double-double is Burns' first of the season. Her final basket gave her 700 points in her career.
 
Career-Highs for G'mrice
The junior forward is playing the most minutes of her career this season and is putting up terrific numbers. Davis has set three new career-highs in rebounds, first with 15 at #1 Notre Dame, then 17 against Texas Tech, including seven on the offensive glass, and finally 21 against Grambling State, one of the top single-game numbers in A-10 history. Following the win over Davidson, she has now set three new scoring career-highs, as well, first with 22 points against Boston College, 24 in the Battle of the Bronx, and now 27 against the Wildcats. At Iona, Davis played the entire 40 minutes for the first time in her career and matched that feat over two of her last three games, at Saint Joseph's and at home against VCU.
 
Missry For Three!
Hannah Missry tied and broke the all-time Fordham career three-point record last season against St. Bonaventure (2/24/16) with two timely second-half bombs, tying and moving past Heather Donlon (1989-93) on the all-time list. Missry finished her season with five more long-range efforts over the next three contests and began her senior campaign with 239. This year, the senior is shooting 49-of-139 from deep (35.3%) and has flourished in recent games, hitting between two and five triples in seven of the last 10 contests. Her 2.1 per-game average is fourth in the conference.
 
51 To Go
Missry is 51 three-pointers away from breaking Jessica Jenkins' all-time Atlantic 10 record of 338 threes set at St. Bonaventure from 2009-12. The Manasquan, N.J. native is on pace to finish just behind Jenkins somewhere in the top three.
 
Kelly's Role Growing
Freshman guard Anna Kelly started her Fordham career by scoring seven points in three of her first four games but spent the next 12 contests playing between two and 14 minutes, excluding one 19-minute cameo. Needing an injection of energy against Davidson at the beginning of January, Kelly flourished, tallying a career-high 18 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Kelly also tallied two rebounds, two steals, and two assists, in 27 minutes. Over her next four games, she averaged just under four points per game, but in her past two, has been one of the lone bright spots over a tough period for the team. Kelly has scored averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, with two assists, and 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 shooting from the line across 24.5 minutes.
 
Fordham's Charity
Fordham is 48th in the country thus far with a 74.6% clip from the free throw line. The Rams have spent a large portion of this season atop the A-10 leaderboards before some struggles from the line helped them slip to second. Before a season-high 23-of-29 performance from the stripe against Davidson (1/4), over the team's previous five games, the Rams were hitting just 64.7% (44-of-68) of their freebies, including a 16-for-25 mark at Rhode Island, the most attempts of the season but also the third-most makes. The 10-of-11 shooting from the line in Olean helped the Rams again reach the summit in the league. Fordham hit 11-of-16 at Saint Joseph's but rebounded with 12-of-14 against VCU. The current 75.3% mark would be the third-best in program history.
 
Fomina Facilitating Off the Bench
Fomina is one off the team lead with 48 assists despite averaging just 14.9 minutes off the bench. Her lone start came against Davidson, playing 22 minutes and assisting on five buckets. Fomina began the year with at least one assist in each of the first 10 games, including five at Iona. After no dimes against St. John's, Fomina played just seven minutes against George Mason but before that had flourished over her previous six and had tallied between three and five assists in every game. Over those five games, she totaled 22 assists. Against Richmond, Fomina tallied three points, two rebounds, and three assists. At Saint Joseph's the junior led the squad with three more dimes but tallied just one last Saturday.
 
Kiwis Enroll Early
Two of Fordham's Class of 2021 recruits have joined the team and have been declared eligible to practice and compete. However, the two Kiwis, Kendell Heremaia and Zara Jillings, will redshirt and sit out the remainder of this season. Natives of New Zealand, the duo's school year ended this winter and the pair enrolled early to get integrated into the program. Jillings and Heremaia have taken jersey numbers 15 and 30, respectively.
 
Five Sign NLIs in 2016-17 Recruiting Class
Coach Gaitley announced this past week the additions of five student-athletes  to national letters of intent: Halei Gillis, Kendell Heremaia, Zara Jillings, Ralene Kwiatkowski, and Vilisi Tavui. Fordham's global reach under Coach Gaitley continues with two players from North Carolina, two from New Zealand, and one from Fiji. The three international players all have experience playing within their countries' junior ranks.
 
You can read all about the five additions here.
 
Fordham WBB Ticket Plans
Two women's ticket options are available:
Flex Plan: $35 for 15 tickets
Community Partner: $100 for 50 tickets
 
With the flex plan option, fans receive 15 ticket vouchers good for use at any Fordham women's basketball game, plus a special Fordham scarf. As a community partner, you also have the opportunity to provide 50 tickets to a group of your choice.

The Rams have four remaining home Atlantic 10 contests, including one nationally televised home game – the home season finale against Dayton on February 19.
 
You can purchase single game tickets for all home contests here.
 
Up Next
Fordham return home to host St. Bonaventure this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. It is the team's annual Alumni Day, beginning with a game at 11 a.m. followed by a pre-game reception.