Box Score Nov. 29, 2008
Box Score
Cancun, Mexico - It's a story that had been seen before. In the Rams' opener, Fordham saw a double-digit lead turn into a loss to Princeton. On Saturday however, Fordham stopped a late Ohio comeback with some stellar defensive stops to record a 55-51 victory over the Bobcats at the Cancun Thanksgiving Shootout at the Kuchil Baxal Gymnasio in Cancun, Mexico.
With the win, Fordham evens their record at 3-3 on the season, while Ohio fell to 1-4.
The game started out well for Fordham, as the Rams led 15-8 midway through the first half. Megan Mahoney was the Rams' spark, scoring seven of those points. Mahoney later hit her second three-pointer, followed by an unexpected three-pointer from Kassie Humphries, giving the Rams a 21-12 lead with 7:15 to go.
The Rams continued to hit from long range, as Annie Zopf nailed her second three-pointer of the half to put Fordham ahead, 26-15 with 3:04 to go. Fordham eventually went into halftime with a 30-19 lead, as Tiffany Stokes converted on a steal and lay-up with 1.5 seconds remaining, giving the Rams the 11-point lead.
The biggest key to Fordham's lead was their defense, which held Ohio to just seven baskets and a 29.2% shooting percentage in the period, while forcing 12 turnovers.
Things continued to look good for Fordham in the second half, as the lead bellied out to 16 points, 39-23, on a lay-up by Randall Hurst with 14:43 remaining. Ohio, however, slowly chipped away at Fordham's lead, outscoring the Rams 17-2 over the next 8:39 to pull to within one, 41-40, with 5:32 to go. Over that stretch, Kamille Buckner and Lauren Hmiel each had six points.
Hurst was able to keep Fordham in the game, hitting a three-point play to put the Rams up, 44-40, but later Jenny Poff hit a three-point-play of her own to knot the game at 45. After Hurst gave the lead back to the Rams, Poff hit an open three-pointer from the left corner to give Ohio a 48-47 lead.
The Rams then looked to Stokes and Hurst on two straight possessions, as both drove the lane, got fouled, and hit both free throws to give Fordham a 51-48 lead with 2:39 remaining. The Rams then got the first of two huge blocked shots in the waning minutes of the game. Ohio's Catherine Cain was stuffed by Stokes and could not get off another shot before a shot clock violation was called against the Bobcats.
Ohio would still not go away easily as Poff hit another three-pointer to tie the game at 51 with just 1:15 on the clock.
After a timeout, Fordham went back to Hurst, who was fouled once again, and hit both ends of a one-and-one to put Fordham up two, 53-51. The Fordham defense again forced a bad shot by Ohio with Zopf getting fouled and hitting both free throws at the other end to push the lead to four. Zopf then had the final big stop as she blocked a three-pointer by Poff and dribbled out the clock to seal the win for Fordham.
For Fordham, Randall Hurst scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and was selected to the All-Shootout Team following the game. Annie Zopf added 11 points and three rebounds, with Megan Mahoney having nine points, three steals, and a team-high six rebounds. Tiffany Stokes also chipped in six points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots off the bench.
Ohio was led by Kamille Buckner, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds before fouling out of the game.
The Fordham women's basketball team will now return to the U.S. for a road game at Georgetown on Wednesday, December 3rd.
