Box Score Feb. 24, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham women's basketball team bid farewell to senior class of 2009 as they closed out the final home game of the 2008-09 season with a loss to the Richmond Spiders, 62-44.
Fordham drops to 8-20 (1-12 Atlantic 10) as Richmond improves to 20-8 (8-5 Atlantic 10).
The game marked the first time since the December 28th contest against Norfolk State in the Fordham Holiday Tournament that every Fordham women's basketball player both dressed and played in a game. Carissa Morrill, Kassie Humphries, Takita Earl and Annie Zopf closed out their career at the Rose Hill marking the first time this year that all four seniors entered the game in the starting lineup, with freshman Becky Peters filling in the fifth starting spot.
Richmond jumped out to a quick 18-6 lead until Zopf knocked down her 105th career three-pointer, putting her in a tie for seventh place on the all-time three-point field goals list. Zopf would later claim seventh place, outright, with a trey in the second half.
Zopf's basket from beyond the arc would begin an 8-3 scoring run for the Rams, bringing them to within seven of the Spiders with just over ten minutes remaining in the first half. Richmond would later add to their lead, going up by as much as 14 while entering halftime up 32-21.
Much of Richmond's first-half success could be attributed to their 24 rebounds, compared to Fordham's 16, as the Spiders scored 11 second-chance points in the half.
Richmond would jump right back to a 16 point lead in the second half as the Spiders led 41-25 with just over 14 minutes to go.
It wasn't until sophomore Tiffany Stokes hit a jumper with 6:38 remaining that the Rams would pull the deficit to single-digits as they trailed Richmond, 45-37. During that stretch, the Rams defense held strong as they did not allowing the Spiders to put any points on the score board for over three minutes.
The Richmond scoring drought would be broken up by a Crystal Gorging layup that would ultimately start a Richmond tear on the basket that would put the Spiders going up by as many as 19 with just over two minutes to go. Fordham chipped into the deficit with Tyonna Willingham scoring three off a layup-up and a free throw. But in the end, the Spiders would prevail, topping the Rams, 62-44.
Annie Zopf and Becky Peters led the Rams scoring with eight points a piece. Peters also added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal to her totals. Sophomore Kristina Bell added seven points.
The Rams close out the season on Saturday, February 28th as they take on #13/16 nationally ranked Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center at 2:00 PM. The game will mark the second year in a row that the Rams will close out the season against a nationally ranked opponent.
NOTES: Sophomore Kristina Bell let a 32-game starting streak fall by the wayside to make room for all four seniors to start...her streak was the second longest on the team, the best going to Annie Zopf who holds strong at 85 straight games...Zopf's two three-pointers would push her past Beth Ann Dickson for seventh on the all-time list for career three-point field goals with 106 career treys.
