Women's Basketball Takes 49th Battle of the Bronx, 54-48, on Wednesday night

Riverdale, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team trailed its crosstown rival Manhattan Jaspers in the all-time series for the last much of the last three decades, but has now won the last seven contests, all under head coach Stephanie Gaitley, including Wednesday night's 54-48 victory in the 49^th annual Battle of the Bronx, to take a 25-24 lead in the long-standing rivalry. The win is also Fordham's second straight, improving the Rams to 3-2 on the year, while the Jaspers fall to 2-4.
 
"I'm really proud of our team on a great road win versus a tough Manhattan squad," Gaitley said, "I think our early road games thus far have paid off. This was another step in the right direction!"
 
Senior forward G'mrice Davis notched her fifth straight double-double to begin the year, piling up a season-high 19 points and 15 rebounds across 40 minutes, and being

named the Doc Johnson Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year.
 
Both teams struggled almost equally on either end of the court for most of the first half, especially in a sluggish 8-5 opening 10 minutes. The two schools shot a combined 6-for-26 from the field in that frame with 11 turnovers, although with just four fouls. A late Lauren Holden three-pointer salvaged an otherwise barren opening salvo for the Rams.
 
The Jaspers scored the first points of the second quarter on their first possession, with the team's leading scorer Kayla Grimme converting a corner three in front of the Fordham bench. The Rams rallied, however, taking advantage of some sloppy Manhattan ball-handling while getting Davis more involved. The senior scored two quick baskets, her first two of the game, and the Rams eventually developed an 11-0 run over a seven-minute span to take a 16-11 lead with just under three minutes to play. Manhattan guard Gabby Cajou stopped the slide with a layup and, after a long Bre Cavanaugh jumper from the top of the key, hit another on the ensuing possession. That would cap the scoring in the first half for both schools, with Fordham holding a slim 18-15 margin heading into the break.
 
Fordham and Manhattan shot a nearly equal percentage, 25.8% and 25.9%, respectively, with no free throw attempts by either team. The Rams and Jaspers each attempted 10 three-pointers, hitting two and one, respectively. Each team had 10 turnovers. The second half was complete different, however, with just 33 combined points in the first half followed by 69 combined second-half points.
 
The Rams offense turned a corner in the third frame, scoring 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 4-of-5 from deep. They had scored just five points heading to the first media timeout of the second half but came out of the break hot with three straight three-pointers, two from Cavanaugh and one from Kendell Heremaia, to take a 32-25 lead. The Rams would extend their lead, too, over those final minutes with six unanswered points, including the team's first four free-throw attempts of the night, to hold a 38-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Both team's offenses were in high gear to start the fourth period, with G'mrice Davis dominating in the paint to the tune of seven straight points, including an and-one, while Manhattan's Amani Tatum hit her first three shots of the game, all from downtown, to keep the Jaspers close. Manhattan kept its foot on the pedal and, beginning with 3:31 on the clock and a nine-point deficit, the Jaspers went on an 8-2 run to cut Fordham's lead to three, 49-46, with 97 seconds to play.
 
On the ensuing Fordham possession, Mary Goulding saw her running effort in the paint rim out but the junior, in her third game of the season playing a season-high 33 minutes, soared above the scrum to grab the board, gifting the visitors with a new shot clock. Cavanaugh padded Fordham's lead with a made jumper from the left elbow, 51-46, and she would follow that up with two free throws after a Manhattan miss on the other side. The Rams would see out the 5-0 run and 54-48 victory.
 
Davis, upped her nation-leading rebounding average by .1, now at 14.6 per game, and is up to 15.6 points per game, as well. The senior surpassed both Carol Elser ('85) and Stacey Paukovitz ('93) on the night, moving up to 18^th all-time at Fordhm with 1,048 career points. Former teammate Erin Rooney ('14) is next at 1,062. Davis was an efficient 8-of-13 on the night with three makes on three attempts from the line, while making it three straight contests with at least 15 rebounds.
 
Cavanaugh set new career-highs with 16 points, seven rebounds, five makes, and 15 attempts, while continuing her streak of at least one steal and at least three free throws. The redshirt freshman played 38 minutes, matching her season average. Both Davis and Lauren Holden each played the full 40 minutes. Goulding stuffed the stat sheet with five points, five boards, two assists, plus a block and a steal.
 
Fordham shot 12-of-21 from the field in the second half (57.1%) to finish the game at a 38.5% clip, second-highest since the season-opening win over UMBC. The Rams netted a season-high six three-pointers, though, but also matched a season-high for a third time with 20 turnovers. The squad continued to minimize its personal fouls, with 14.
 
The Rams are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they host Pittsburgh at the Rose Hill Gym at 2 p.m. That contest will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network.