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Bronx, N.Y. – There was no hangover for the Fordham women's basketball team after a tough midweek loss at Penn State, as the Rams bounced back with a 78-48 rout of Iona on Saturday afternoon, improving to 5-3 in the process. Senior forward
G'mrice Davis posted her seventh straight double-double and nine different Rams got on the scoreboard during the win.
"I was really proud of the team today with a great bounce-back win after Penn State," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "Our defense set the tone early, G put up amazing numbers, and our assist to turnover ration was a great indicator of our unselfishness!"
The Rams never trailed in the contest, starting with a
Bre Cavanaugh jumper at the top of the key and ending with a
Ralene Kwiatkowski three-pointer. Fordham jumped out to a 7-0 run, punctuated by a
Mary Goulding and-one, as the game began sluggishly for both sides. The Gaels got on the board out of the media timeout, a three by Toyosi Abiola. Prior to that, the Fordham defense had held the Gaels to 0-for-3 shooting with three turnovers and four personal fours, while the hosts shot 3-of-10. Iona outscored the Rams, 8-6, after that media timeout but Fordham took the period, 13-8.
The Fordham offense broke out in the second quarter, outscoring the Gaels, 21-6. Six different Rams scored at least two points in the frame, with Davis tallying six of those.
Zara Jillings, who corralled a season-high 11 rebounds in the game, grabbed six in the second quarter alone, two on the offensive glass. Davis hit a jumper to open the scoring, which preceded a
Lauren Holden three-pointer. After Treyanna Clay's layup dropped while getting fouled, she missed the free throw, and Jillings coasted to a layup on the other end. A Goulding layup and a Cavanaugh and-one quickly pushed the lead up to 15, 25-10 before Jayden Eggleston stopped the slide with a jumper. Fordham kept the pressure going, with Cavanaugh hitting a three-pointer and
Ralene Kwiatkowski scoring her first Fordham basket with a long two in the corner. Davis saw out the first half with two quick baskets, laying one in then jumping a pass on the other end and driving for another layup immediately after. The Rams took a 34-14 lead into the break.
That Davis run continued on the other side of halftime, with the senior scoring six unanswered points to begin the third quarter. The Gaels had more success in the third quarter, scoring 15 points, but the Rams also dropped 26, to take a 60-29 lead into the final frame. Davis tallied 10 points and four rebounds in the third alone, while the squad hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor (57.1%) and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. The period ended with two quick three's, one from
Kendell Heremaia, and the other from Kristin Mahoney, who banked in a half-court heave at the buzzer.
Coach Gaitley turned to the end of her bench midway through the fourth quarter, with the Rams leading, 67-33. Kwiatkowski added six more points, while
Lauren Murphy scored her first career basket with a three from the wing.
Fordham set several season-highs as a group, shooting 49.2% from the field (29-of-59), plus 15-of-20 from the free throw line, a season-high in makes. The Rams once again won the battle of the boards, 44-27, with 12 offensive rebounds compared to Iona's eight. The team's 20 assists and six turnovers were a season-high and season-low, respectively, as well.
Davis led the way with a huge double-double, her seventh straight, with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, plus 16 rebounds, two assists and one steal across 33 minutes. Goulding chipped in 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with four assists and two steals in 29 minutes, and Holden played a season-low 29 minutes but helped across the board with five points, three boards, a team-high five assists, and one steal.
Bre Cavanaugh made it seven consecutive double-digit performances, scoring 14 point on 4-of-7 shooting and 5-of-7 from the line, to go with four rebounds and three assists in just 24 minutes. Jillings hauled in 11 boards, four offensive, while dishing out three assists, as well, off the bench. Also off the pine were Kwiatkowski's eight points, two boards, and two dimes in 11 minutes, and
Johanna Klug's six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor in nine minutes. Also seeing time on the floor were
Katie McLoughlin,
Kristen Ryan, and Heremaia, the latter of whom made her fourth start of the season.
The win was Coach Gaitley's 125th with the Rams. The 30-point margin of victory was the team's largest since a 74-43 win over Massachusetts last February.
Fordham has yet another quick turnaround, traveling to nearby St. John's on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. tipoff with the Red Storm, before getting a few days off heading into next Sunday's match-up with Bucknell at home.
