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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team enjoyed its first Thanksgiving weekend contest in the Bronx since the 2013-14 season, defeating RV/RV Northern Colorado, 48-33, on Friday night inside the Rose Hill Gym. The Rams will be extra thankful for their team defense, holding Northern Colorado to 25.5% shooting overall and just one-of-26 from behind the arc (3.8%), plus the work of senior forward
G'mrice Davis, who tallied her fourth straight double-double to begin the year, finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds, plus a block and four steals in 33 minutes. With the win, the Rams improve to 2-2 on the year, while the Bears fall to 4-2.
The Rams trailed just once, with the Bears' Savannah Scott scoring the night's first points with a layup, but with a
Johanna Klug layup on the other end, the game was tied just for a few seconds as the freshman was fouled and converted her three-point play to give the Rams a very early lead. That advantage would hold, however, for the rest of the contest. Klug's three-point play started an 8-0 run that include two free throws from
Bre Cavanaugh and a three-pointer from
Lauren Holden. Fordham held on for a 14-8 lead after the first period of action.
Savannah Smith scored the first points of the second frame, cutting the deficit to four, but the Rams responded again with a run, this time a 7-2 stretch over the next five minutes as both teams struggled to get much going on the offensive end, combining for seven turnovers during that time. Cavanaugh's layup to cap the run with just under three minutes in the half put Fordham up nine, 21-12. Northern Colorado called a timeout and regrouped, scoring six unanswered points to finish out the half.
Fordham held a slim 21-18 halftime lead but exploded in the second half, starting with a 19-5 third-quarter score, and outscoring the Bears, 27-15, overall in the second half.
Klug went to the line on the Rams' first possession of the third quarter, hitting one of her two freebies, before a Savannah Smith layup brought the visitors to two once again. From that point on, the Rams outscored the Bears, 18-5, the rest of the period, containing Northern Colorado to just 2-of-11 shooting, 0-of-6 from deep, and three turnovers, while making 7-of-14 shots on the offensive side. Cavanaugh led the way with six points during the run, with a three-point play of her own and a corner three in front of her bench, while Davis,
Zara Jillings,
Mary Goulding, and
Kendell Heremaia all contributed at least two. The lead was up to 17 by the end of the third quarter, 40-23.
Just 18 combined points came in the fourth quarter, as the two teams struggled with their shots yet again. Fordham converted just 2-of-11 attempts from the floor, hitting on 4-of-6 tries from the charity stripe, while the Bears could shoot just 3-of-10. Northern Colorado had missed its first 25 three-point attempts on the night until Krysta Leger-Walker's attempt went in with 94 seconds to play in the game, her first points of the game.
G'mrice Davis made it two straight games with 17 boards and notched a season-high four steals. Redshirt freshman
Bre Cavanaugh made it four straight games with double-digit points, as well, scoring 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Mary Goulding continued in the starting lineup, playing 22 minutes and tallying six points and seven rebounds, a team-high three coming on the offensive glass. Heremaia scored just two points off the bench but provided punch on the glass with seven boards of her own plus three assists, sharing the team-high with Holden.
There was also a debut for
Ralene Kwiatkowski, who grabbed three rebounds in two minutes of action, plus the season debut of junior
Kristen Ryan, her first game action after sitting out her sophomore campaign with an injury.
Fordham outrebounded the Bears, 46-31, and outshot them, 33.3% (17-of-51) to 25.5 (14-of-55). The Rams continued their solid play from the free throw line, hitting 11-of-15 attempts (73.3%), while the Bears made just 4-of-6 overall.
Northern Colorado's 33 points are the fewest allowed by Fordham since Illinois State came to the Bronx on December 15, 2013. The Bears were led by their two Smith's, Courtney and Savannah, each with 10 points.
The Rams travel to Manhattan on Wednesday night for the annual Battle of the Bronx, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
