Box Score Nov. 13, 2010
Box Score
Elon, N.C. -
After a mistake-filled game on Friday night, the Fordham women's basketball team bounced back with a phenomenal team effort on Saturday against Stony Brook. Five Rams scored in double figures, led by a career-high 22 points from Caitlin Shadbolt, while Tiffany Stokes added 21 points, as the Rams posted an 81-73 win over the Seawolves at the Phoenix Classic in Elon, N.C.
With the win, Fordham evens its record at 1-1, while Stony Brook falls to 1-1.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of the team after yesterday," said head coach Cathy Andruzzi in her postgame comments. "What the team did today was play our game. We needed to play defense and play possession basketball. The girls came out with a 2-2-1 press, which was the big key today, and they did a great job the whole game."
The Rams came out strong to start the contest, led by senior forward Tiffany Stokes. After fouling out of Friday night's game, Stokes came out on fire against Stony Brook, hitting an early three-point play and another basket in the post, as Fordham opened up a six-point lead, 12-6.
Fordham extended the lead to seven on a three-pointer by Becky Peters at 17-10, but the Seawolves clawed back to take a 20-19 lead with 9:13 left in the first half. The Rams then went on a quick 9-0 run, highlighted by two baskets from Stokes and a steal and three-point play by Peters to put Fordham ahead, 29-20.
The lead reached double figures at ten, 37-27, on a Kristina Bell jumper, and later extended to 13, just before the half as Bell nailed a three-pointer to close out the period with Fordham ahead, 46-33.
At the break, the Rams lit it up offensively, shooting 51% (18-35) from the field, led by Stokes with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Peters had ten points on 4-of-6 from the field. Kirsten Jeter led all Stony Brook scorers with 12 points.
The Seawolves came out with a comeback surge, scoring the first eight points of the second half to pull within five, 46-41. Later, Jodie Plikus hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Fordham lead to one, 52-51, with 12:34 remaining.
Fordham's Caitlin Shadbolt then personally stopped the Stony Brook surge, scoring 11 of Fordham's next 13 points, as the Rams went on a 13-4 run to get the lead back to double digits at 65-55.
Though Stony Brook cut that Fordham lead in half to five, the Seawolves wouldn't get any closer than that, as the Rams held on for an eight-point victory and their first win of the year.
The Rams finished the game shooting 47% from the field and 81% from the free throw line, as Fordham reached the 75-point mark for the second straight game.
For Fordham, all five starters finished in double figure scoring, as Shadbolt led all scorers with career-highs of 22 points and four assists, the first 20-point game of her career on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Stokes was also 7-for-15 from the field, adding 21 points and nine rebounds for her third career 20-point game, while Bell had 13 points and six rebounds. Peters chipped in 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists with Charlotte Stoddart having 11 points for the Rams.
"Becky did great job at the point tonight, and the posts were really focused. Caitlin and Tiffany came back strong from last night. It was a great team effort, and we really liked what we saw out there today and it was a great win against a tough team in Stony Brook," said Andruzzi.
The Fordham women's basketball team will next be in action on Wednesday, November 17th, when the Rams have their home opener against the Bucknell University Bison, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Rose Hill Gym. Fordham will host Faculty Appreciation Day on Wednesday, where the Rams will honor the faculty and staff of Fordham University.
Game Notes: Fordham improved to 5-2 all-time against Stony Brook with the win on Saturday... The consecutive 75-point games by Rams are the first since the first two games of the 2002-03 season, when the Rams scored 78 points against Brown (11/22/02) and 89 against Morgan State (11/24/02)... The 20-point games by Shadbolt and Stokes were the first by a Rams' pair since Stokes did it with Randall Hurst in the season opener against Albany last season (11/13/09).
