Jan. 29, 2010
BRONX, N.Y. - On Saturday, Jan. 30, the Fordham women’s basketball hosts the La Salle Explorers at Rose Hill for the 15th time in the series history dating back to 1983. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. Game time is set for 1 p.m. The Rams and Explorers will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia.
La Salle holds the all-time series record, 30-6, and the Explorers are 11-3 at Rose Hill. Last season, the Rams broke the Explorers five-game win-streak with a 48-45 victory on Feb. 7, 2009 at La Salle.
Fordham is looking to mark their second-straight victory at Rose Hill as they defeated Rhode Island, 53-47 in their last game on their home court on Jan. 23. The Rams had back-to-back wins at home against Rider (Dec. 5) and Iona (Dec. 9) earlier this season.
The Rams will also be hosting National Girls and Women In Sports Day in conjunction with the La Salle contest.
SCOUTING LA SALLE: The Explorers are 5-16 overall and 0-6 in A-10 play. La Salle is coming off a difficult 45-39 loss to St. Joseph’s on Wednesday, marking a league and Philly Big 5 loss. La Salle is on a seven-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 5 and are 3-8 on the road this season. On Jan. 24, the Explorers lost 58-50 to George Washington.
La Salle is led by senior Morgan Robertson who has averaged 10.7 ppg with 214 points. Robertson tallied a double-double in the loss to St. Joe’s and connected on a career-high 9-of-10 free throws en route to 19 points and a season-high 11 boards. Robertson also leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 rpg. Classmate Jamie Walsh is second in scoring on the team with 9.8 ppg.
WHEN LAST THEY MET: The Rams were victorious over the Explorers at Gola Arena, 48-45, as Fordham was led by Randall Hurst (11 points, seven rebounds) and Annie Zopf (11 points, eight rebounds). The win marked the Rams’ first Atlantic 10 win in 27 tries and first road win in more than two years on Feb. 7, 2009.
The contest came down to the wire as La Salle tied the game 45-45 with 54 seconds remaining. On the following possession, Becky Peters pulled up at the free throw line to knock down a jumper that put the Rams back up 47-45 with 20 seconds on the clock.
After trading fouls, Fordham benefited as Peters was sent to the line for bonus shots. Peters knocked down the first of two that put the Rams up for the final margin.
The Rams and Explorers met earlier in the season, on Jan. 24, where La Salle edged Fordham, 42-41, at Rose Hill.
LAST TIME OUT: After posting a win against Rhode Island at home on Jan. 23, the Rams took to the road on Wednesday to face St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center. It was a tale of two halves as Fordham held St. Bonaventure to one three-pointer and trailed by single digits at the half. However, the second half saw seven three-pointers by the Bonnies, five of those by Jessica Jenkins, leading them to a 60-36 win over the Rams.
Neither squad got off to a great start, as St. Bonaventure led just 8-4, eight minutes into the opening half. Fordham closed within three, 14-11, following a three-pointer by Becky Peters and a circus shot lay-up by Arielle Collins.
At the break, both squads struggled from the field, as Fordham shot 30% from the field, while the Bonnies were just 1-for-10 from three-point range.
St. Bonaventure then began to hit from long range at the start of the second half. Jenkins connected for four three-pointers over the first 4:32 of the period, extending the Bonnies’ lead to 40-21. Fordham began to cut into the St. Bonaventure lead behind six straight points from Tiffany Stokes and a three-pointer by Kyara Weekes.
Weekes scored a team-high 14 points, including her 300th career point with her final free throw, while Stokes added six points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Kristina Bell also added five rebounds, three assists, and three points.
FORDHAM ON THE WEB: For information and statistics on the Fordham women’s basketball team, as well as Fordham’s other 21 varsity sports, you can check out the Fordham Athletics website at www.fordhamsports.com. For the latest on Fordham and the other Atlantic 10 schools, check out the conference’s website at www.atlantic10.org.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: Fordham returns to the road for a Wednesday, Feb. 3 lunch date at Richmond, beginning at noon. The Rams will continue on the road on Saturday, Feb. 6 when they travel to Amherst, Mass., for another A-10 mix-up at Massachusetts.
