Women's Basketball Drops George Washington, 61-50, to Start A-10 Play

Box Score (pdf) | Highlights

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team ended 2017 on a high note with its 10^th victory of the season, defeating George Washington, 61-50, in the Atlantic 10 opener on New Year's Eve afternoon. With the win, the Rams improve to 10-4 on the year and 1-0 in conference action, while the Colonials fall to 5-8 and 0-1, respectively.
 
"I'm really proud of our kids for a great win today, our third game in four days," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "Always nice to start conference play off with a win. This was a great way to finish 2017!"

Senior forward G'mrice Davis tallied her third straight big double-double, posting 14 points and 15 rebounds, plus a game-high four assists, while the backcourt duo of Bre Cavanaugh and Lauren Holden combined for 28 points across all 40 minutes. Cavanaugh led the way with a game-high 16 points.
 
The game started off slowly, with the Colonials leading, 4-3, at the first media timeout of the contest, but things picked up thereafter. Holden splashed home a long-range effort out of the break and Kendell Heremaia's buzzer-beating layup gave Fordham the lead, 13-12, after one period of action. The Rams really picked things up in the second frame, rushing out to a double-digit lead with a 15-0 run for most of the period.
 
From the 7:48 mark of the second quarter to 2:36, Fordham scored 15 unanswered points on 6-of-8 shooting and held George Washington without a basket on five attempts and two turnovers. Lexus Levy had just hit a three to tie the game up at 15-all but Holden answered with one of her own to kickstart the run. The junior would add another at the five-minute mark and Davis would chip in five points, including an and-one. George Washington was able to claw back some of those points with a 7-3 run to finish the half, with Mei-Lyn Bautista scoring every point.
 
Fordham kept things in double figures for much of the third period until George Washington started to amass an 11-3 run that eventually cut the deficit to seven, 47-40, with just over a minute left in the frame. After a minute of no scoring, Cavanaugh was fouled with five seconds on the clock and hit both free throws to give the Rams a nine-point lead heading to the final quarter. Freshman Halei Gillis, recently back from an eight-game absence, pushed Fordham back into a double-digit lead with a clutch offensive rebound and putback, elevating the Rams to a 51-40 lead. The margin wouldn't dip back below 10 the rest of the way.
 
The Rams outshot and outrebounded the Colonials on the day, shooting 45.3% from the floor compared to the visitors' 40.4%, and hit 7-of-20 three-pointers (35.0%) to GW's 30.0% clip. Fordham grabbed 33 rebounds, 12 on the offensive glass, while George Washington hauled in 25 and seven, respectively. The Rams attempted just seven free throws on the afternoon, however, second-fewest of the year, but converted all but one of them.
 
Davis' double-double was her third straight and 11^th of the season. During the contest she surpassed Fordham Hall of Famer Mary Ann Bilotti ('80) and Mobolaji Akiode ('03) to move into 11^th place on the all-time scoring list, now with 1,171 career points. Next up is current Director of Basketball Operations Abigail Corning, who has 1,213. Davis is also on the verge of passing former teammate and current Director of Player Development Samantha Clark for second-most rebounds all-time. Davis, with 945, is just one behind Clark.
 
Cavanaugh's 16 points make it 12 out of 14 games with double-digit points for the redshirt freshman, who is averaging 14.6 points per contest. Johanna Klug chipped in six points, five boards (four offensive), and an assist in 29 minutes, while freshman Zara Jillings made her first career start and scored a season-high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 37 minutes. Gillis and Heremaia each converted their lone attempts off the bench.