Nov. 16, 2010
Bucknell Game Notes | WFUV Audio | Live Video | GameTracker | Follow on Twitter
Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham women's basketball team gets its home season underway on Wednesday night, as the team hosts the Bucknell Bison in the Rose Hill Gym for the 5th Annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day.
The Rams and Bison are both coming off victories, as Bucknell defeated Rider in its season opener, while the Rams toppled Stony Brook on Saturday at the Phoenix Classic in North Carolina.
The game will be broadcast live on WFUV.org, with the pre-game report beginning 10 minutes prior to game time. In addition, the Fordham-Bucknell game will also have a free video stream of the game through Fordham All-Access at: www.fordhamsports.com/allaccess
SERIES HISTORY: This is the 20th all-time meeeting between the Rams and Bison with Fordham holding a 14-5 lead in the series. Bucknell however has won the two most recent meetings, including a 63-56 decision at Bucknell last year.
In that game, despite the third straight 20-point game from Randall Hurst, the Fordham Rams could not overcome the 48% shooting of the Bucknell Bison, as the Rams fell to Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.
Hurst netted a team-high 23 points for Fordham on 9-for-16 shooting to go with seven rebounds, as she recorded her third straight 20-point performance. Katie Vican chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, and three steals off the bench, with Tiffany Stokes adding eight points and three rebounds.
SCOUTING BUCKNELL: The Bucknell Bison, out of the Patriot League, will be the Rams' first home opponent of the season on Wednesday. The Bison are 1-0 after defeating Rider, 53-48, on Friday. Bucknell is coached by Kathy Fedorjaka, who is in her 14th season with a Bison, posting a 197-179 record.
The Bison return three starters from last year's team led by Joyce Novacek, who netted 11 points and 13 rebounds in Bucknell's opening game win on Friday. Shelby Romine led all Bucknell scorers in that game with 17 points and five assists, while Rachel Voss also scored in double figures with 11 points.
LAST TIME OUT: The Fordham women's basketball team bounced back with a phenomenal team effort in its second game 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.
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 Kristina Bell had 13 points and six rebounds. Becky Peters chipped in 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists with Charlotte Stoddart having 11 points for the Rams.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Peters was named to the Phoenix Classic All-Tournament Team.
SAME DATE, SAME RESULT: In two games, Fordham forward Tiffany Stokes proved one unmistakable fact. She loves playing basketball on November 13th.
Last season on November 13th, Stokes had her best game as a Ram with 25 points and 12 rebounds in a season-opening win over Albany.
This year on the same date, Stokes helped the Rams put together a great overall performance with 21 points and nine rebounds in an 81-73 win over Stony Brook.
FROM NEW YORK, THIS IS 20-20: Already through two games this season, the Fordham Rams have had three different players break the 20-point barrier in a game, matching last year's total through 30 games.
Kristina Bell got the ball rolling with her first career 20-point game, posting a career-high 22 against Elon University. The following night, senior Caitlin Shadbolt matched that total with her first 20-point game, scoring a career-high 22 points, while fellow senior Tiffany Stokes netted 21 points for her third career 20-point game.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE: High scoring affairs have been rare over Fordham's recent history, which puts Fordham's first two games of the season at the Phoenix Classic in high standing.
The Rams scored at least 75 points in both games, which included an 81-point winning effort against Stony Brook. In addition, the Rams had five players reach double figuring in the Stony Brook.
To put those numbers in perspective, the last time Fordham had five players in double figure scoring was December 11, 2005, in a 71-61 loss to Cincinnati, a span of 138 games.
The Rams' last 80-point game was January 11, 2004 in an 81-69 victory over the Rhode Island Rams, a span of 191 games.
Finally, to find the last back-to-back 75-point games by the Rams, one goes back to the opening two games of the 2002-03 season against Brown (78 pts.) and Morgan State (89 pts.), which was 231 games ago.
RAMS' RECORDS: Of the current roster, Becky Peters, Kristina Bell, Kyara Weekes, and Tiffany Stokes will be making their way up Fordham's all-time leader board this season.
Bell continues her climb among the top 30 all-time at Fordham after the end of last season. She is in the top 30 in free throw percentage (4th - .839), games started (9th - 82), minutes played (10th - 2785), steals (16th - 117), assists (21st - 171), and rebounds (26th - 412).
Stokes is tied for 13th all-time in blocked shots (53) and 13th in rebounding average (5.3), while Weekes is currently tied for 19th all-time in three-point field goals (50).
Peters is in the top 20 all-time in scoring average (17th - 10.6), three-point field goals (15th - 75), and steals (20th - 103), while being 34th in points scored at 653.
EXPERIENCE COUNTS: With six seniors and 11 returnees overall on the squad, the Fordham women's basketball team boasts one of its more experienced teams in recent history. Out of a possible 150 players starts last season (30 games), the current team accounted for 128, including over 25 by Becky Peters (26), Kristina Bell (28), and Kyara Weekes (26).
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: For the second straight season, forward Alexandria Zamora will serve the the team captain of the women's basketball team. One of the motivational leaders of the team, Zamora returns to the floor after missing all but one game due to injury in 2009-10. She will add another experienced body to the Rams' frontline.
Prior to the season, Zamora was featured on the Atlantic 10 Blog, which can be found here.
GRIFF GOES TO SCHOOL... POINT GUARD SCHOOL THAT IS: Looking to take the next step forward in her basketball career, sophomore Ranait Griff decided over the summer to take on some extra school work. It wasn't books however that she was carrying, it was a basketball.
Griff attended Point Guard College in August at Emmanuel College in Boston. The five-day program was designed to teach players how to train effectively, play intelligent basketball, become "coaches on the court," and demonstrate leadership during basketball games, practices and in everyday life. Among the other attendees at the program included Xavier's Special Jennings, UConn's Bria Hartley, Michigan State's Jasmine Thomas, and North Carolina's Krista Gross, Shannon Smith, and Latifah Coleman among others
HEY NEWBIE!: With an extremely experienced squad returning, there is only one newcomer of the 2010-11 edition of the Rams in the form of freshman Abigail Corning.
Corning was a four-year varsity basketball player at Wethersfield High School and the Hartford Courant 2009-10 Player of the Year. She set the school record for points scored with 1,448, was an All-State selection, and earned All-Central Connecticut Conference honors in each of her seasons at Wethersfield.
TOP NOTCH: Fordham will face one of its tougher schedules in recent memory, as the team plays 10 postseason teams from a year ago, including Kansas, Xavier, and Dayton, as well as a 14-game Atlantic 10 Conference schedule.
The schedule is also a throwback schedule, featuring a number of long-time opponents for the Rams. Among the long-time rivals on this year's schedule are Iona (41 all-time meetings), Manhattan (41), St. Peter's (40), La Salle (38), Holy Cross (37), Saint Joseph's (34), Massachusetts (30), and Rhode Island (28).
FORDHAM WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON THE WEB: Anyone can follow the Fordham women's basketball team on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, you can find the team under "Fordham Women's Basketball" or on Twitter at @FordhamWBB. You can also follow Coach Cathy Andruzzi on Twitter at @Coach_Druzz.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: Fordham will have their second home game of the season on Saturday, November 20th at 4:00 PM against Holy Cross. The Rams then hit the road with an away match-up against Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday, November 22nd, and then travel to Lawrence, Kansas for a three-day tournament, November 26-28.
