Women's Basketball Falls to #11/12 UCLA

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team fell to #11/12 UCLA, 67-30, on Wednesday night inside the Rose Hill Gym, snapping a three-game winning streak. With the loss, the Rams fall to 7-4 on the season, while the Bruins improve to 9-2 overall.
 
"This was a great lesson from a great team," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said after the game, "If we can learn from this and understand the importance of respecting all and fearing no one, then it's a step in the right direction."
 
The preseason Pac-12 favorites hit their first basket two minutes into the game and never looked back as Fordham struggled with its shot and on the glass throughout. The Rams shot just 10-of-51 from the field (19.6%), while the Bruins connected on 26-of-55 (47.3%) attempts, and were outrebounded, 51-22, with a 17-8 margin on the offensive glass, which led to 17 second-chance points for UCLA and 30 overall points in the paint.
 
The Rams forced the nationally-ranked Bruins into coughing the ball up 19 times, a season-high for a Fordham opponent, but could score just nine points off of those turnovers. Comparatively, UCLA forced 14 turnovers and scored 14 points off them, including eight on the fast break.
 
Fordham hit 4-of-16 shots in the first quarter, which turned out to be the most field goals made in any period on the night, with two, one, and three made over the next three frames. The hosts hit just 2-of-21 three-pointers, coming on back-to-back possessions by Bre Cavanaugh and Lauren Holden.
 
Cavanaugh led the Rams in scoring with nine points on 2-of-12 shooting, while Holden chipped in six points, two boards, and two steals, which matched her career-high. G'mrice Davis, who tallied eight straight double-doubles to begin the year, has now missed out on one in two straight contests, finshing tonight with seven points and eight rebounds, plus a team-high three assists and two steals across 38 minutes.
 
Tonight was just the fifth time under Coach Gaitley that the Rams have been held under 40 points, with three of those games came during her first year in charge in 2011-12, and the team's 30 points were the program's third-lowest output since 1975. Fordham was held to a program-low 27 points at #15 George Washington in the regular season finale of the winless 2007-08 season, and also scored 29 points at Saint Joseph's on January 15, 2000. The head coach of the Hawks at the time? Stephanie Gaitley.

UCLA was held to its third-lowest output of the year, after being held to 60 points by Connecticut and 64 by Kansas State.
 
Fordham has more than a week off until its next game – at home against Hartford next Thursday at 1 p.m. to kick off the 11^th annual Fordham Holiday Classic.