Box Score Feb. 28, 2009
Box Score
Cincinnati, Ohio - For the second straight year, the Fordham women's basketball team has closed out the season against a nationally ranked team. Though the Rams kept the score with the #13 Xavier Musketeers closer than Fordham did against #15 George Washington in the 2007-08 season closer, the ending result was much the same as Fordham fell to the Xavier, 75-47.
Fordham ends the season with an 8-21 (1-13 Atlantic 10) record while Xavier takes a conference best 25-5 (13-1 Atlantic 10) record into the Atlantic 10 Tournament that is set to begin March 6, in Charlotte, N.C.
The Rams found themselves down seven points with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. The Fordham scoring in that time was much in part to the play of Kyara Weekes as the sophomore came off the bench to score Fordham's four points of the game. Randall Hurst added a bucket and an Annie Zopf three-pointer would put the Rams down, 16-9.
Fordham was still able to keep Xavier within striking distance as two more Hurst baskets and a Becky Peters free-throw would put the Rams down seven, with a score of 21-14, with 6:29 remaining in the half.
Xavier stepped up their game to put up 17 more points to the Rams' 10 to close out the half with the Musketeers on top, 38-24.
Randall Hurst completed six of her eight first half shots for 12 points before halftime. Xavier's Jerri Taylor matched Hurst's scoring output, doing her work from beyond the arc, shooting four of five from three for her 12 first-half points.
The Musketeers came out of the break firing, going on an 11-4 run to open up the second half. They added to that lead to go ahead by 22 with just over nine minutes to play.
Becky Peters turned things around for the Rams with a trey from the left side of the court combined with a steal on the next Musketeers possession that would ultimately lead to two Tyonna Willingham free-throws, making the score 62-40, with 7:50 to go.
Xavier added 13 points with the Rams only putting up seven to close out the game with the Musketeers on top, 75-47.
Topping all scorers would be Xavier's Ta'Shia Phillips with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Jerri Taylor added 15 with Tudy Reed hitting 11 points and Special Jennings ended the game with 10.
Randall Hurst led the way for Fordham with 16 points. Becky Peters and Annie Zopf contributed to the Rams' scoring output with nine and eight points, respectively.
Though the year ended with a six-game losing streak and marks the third year in-a-row that the Rams did not make the Atlantic 10 tournament, there were plenty of great things to make notice when looking back upon the 2008-09 season.
For one, the Rams were able to get rid of the elephant in the room with a 62-49 win against Manhattan in the second game of the season, putting an end to the 35 game losing streak that dated back to the 2006-07 season. The Rams' eight wins on the season also marked the highest win total since the 2004-05 squad.
New faces on the court also made a huge difference in the Fordham line-up. Freshman Becky Peters earned back-to-back Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week honors for the first time in Fordham history.
Junior Randall Hurst also earned Atlantic 10 Weekly honors as she was tabbed the Co-Player of the Week for her play during the last week of December. Her award marked the first time that a Fordham women's basketball player has been named an Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week since Lisa Carroll earned the honor back in December of 2006.
The close of the 2008-09 season also marks the end of an era as senior Annie Zopf donned the Fordham jersey for the last time in her storied career. Zopf, a mainstay in the Fordham lineup for the past three years, ended her Rams days ranking seventh all-time for career three-pointers made with (108) while the senior made 86 straight starts in 111 games played.
NOTES: The Rams are 0-7 historically against nationally ranked opponents...The closest Fordham has come to defeating a nationally ranked team was a 13 point loss to #25 Virginia Tech during the 2004-05 season...senior Carissa Morrill made her first shot from the field in her two-year Fordham career with a basket at the 13:58 mark...Today's game marked the second time in a row that all 11 players on the Fordham roster saw playing time on the court.
