Dec. 27, 2008

Bronx, N.Y. - For the second straight season, the Fordham women's basketball team will host the Fordham Holiday Tournament, beginning Sunday, December 28th through Monday, December 29th.

On Sunday, Fordham will meet Norfolk State at 1:00 PM in the opening game, followed by Colgate against Bryant at approximately 3:00 PM. On Monday, the winners of both games will play for the tournament title at approximately 3:00 PM, while the consolation game starts at 1:00 PM.

Fans can follow all the action on the Tournament Central Page, which will have links to GameTracker, live audio, live video, box scores, and recaps.

The Teams: Here is a short rundown of each team:

Fordham: Fordham has posted five wins over the first 11 games of the season for the first time since the 2005-06 season, but the big difference has come at the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym, where the Rams are 4-2 at Rose Hill for the first time since that 2005-06 season. The Rams are holding opponents to a 54.5 scoring average at home, while forcing opponents in 19.0 turnovers a contest.

The Rams head into the tournament following a 66-64 win over Central Connecticut State on December 22nd. In that game, Randall Hurst scored two of her game-high 19 points in the final 15 seconds for the go-ahead basket in the game, while Becky Peters (12 points) and Annie Zopf (10 points) also scored in double figures for Fordham.

For Fordham, this will be the first ever meeting against Norfolk State and Bryant, but Colgate has played the Rams 11 times, mainly as Patriot League rivals in the early 90's. Fordham holds a 7-4 advantage in the series.

Norfolk State: The Spartans are 0-5 on the season, and have not played since December 6th, where they dropped their conference opener to North Carolina A&T, 90-56. The Spartans have struggled on the defensive end, allowing 92.0 ppg with no opponent scoring less than 84 points.

On the floor, Marquilla Evans (11.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Danelle Tate (10.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) have been top performers for the Spartans thus far.

Colgate: The Raiders are 2-8 this season, but have lost two of the last three games in overtime to Penn (49-46) and Wagner (58-56). Offensively, the Raiders are scoring 50.4 points, while committing 21.3 turnovers a game.

On the floor, Sami Kozlowski is the only double-digit scorer at 10.6 ppg, while adding 30 assists and shooting .367 from three point range. In the paint, Georgia Gier is the leading rebounder at 8.3 per game, while adding 7.0 points a contest.

Bryant: The Bulldogs are 3-6 this season with their last game on December 7th against Lafayette. Bryant is averaging 58.0 points and 41.1 rebounds a game thus far.

On the floor, Kelsey O'Keefe leads the way with a 12.7 scoring average and 7.8 rebounding average. Cara Johnson is also averaging 8.6 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Tournament History: Fairfield won the first Fordham Holiday tournament last season, posting wins over Troy and Mt. St. Mary's. Fairfield's Sabra Wrice was named the tournament MVP, scoring 22 points in the championship game.

The rest of the all-tournament team was: Baendu Lowenthal - Fairfield; Lauren Howell - Mt. St. Mary's; Tiffany Green - Mt. St. Mary's; Kylie Morrissy - Troy; Megan Mahoney - Fordham