Box Score Dec. 29, 2010
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| Tournament Central
Bronx, N.Y. -
Despite having to wait 24 hours because of the blizzard that hit the New York metropolitan area, the Fordham Rams opened the 2010 Holiday Classic with a 62-44 victory over Yale University. The win evened the Rams' record at 7-7, while the Elis dropped to 3-8. Fordham's Kyara Weekes nearly recorded the first double-double of the season for the Rams.
It was the Bulldogs who poured a blizzard on the Rams out of the blocks as they built an 11-3 lead to start the game. A three-pointer from Janna Graf at 16:03 gave Yale a 7-3 edge. From there, another Graf basket and a layup from Mady Gobrecht gave the Elis their largest lead (eight points) at 11-3 with 13:28 on the clock.
Fordham countered with an 8-2 run of their own over the next 2:28; to close the deficit to 13-11 as Kristina Bell scored five points and collected a steal during that span. She finished with nine points (4-7) and three assists in the game.
At the 7:44 mark, with the scored knotted at 13, Yale went on another run to take a 20-13 lead. Gobrecht hit the basket to give the Bulldogs 20 at 5:22. From there, Fordham closed the half by chipping away at the lead as Weekes and Bell were the majority of the Rams' offense down the stretch. Yale clung to a 24-23 lead at the half.
Fordham opened the second half with an 18-2 run over the first 6:20 and never looked back from there. In the run, Becky Peters scored four points, while Tiffany Stokes netted seven. The Rams extended their advantage to 20 points when Charlotte Stoddart buried a three-pointer at the 6:43 mark. The 20 point cushion was the Fordham's largest lead of the game. They went on to win 62-44.
For the Rams, Weekes had a game-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. She grabbed nine boards and had a steal. Stokes nearly had a double-double also, finishing with nine points, 13 rebounds and a game-high, three blocked shots. Peters had 12 points and four assists in all; while Bell came of f the bench and shot 4-of-7 for nine points.
Fordham hosts Siena College on day two of the 2010 Fordham Holiday Classic on Thursday, December 30. The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Game Notes: The win marked the fifth time this season (third consecutive) where the Rams held an opponent under the 50 point plateau...Weekes' nine rebounds tied her season high (Rider and Iona)...Stokes collected a season-high in rebounds (13) and had her second double digit rebounding game of the season (Holy Cross-11)...Rams held the Bulldogs to 1-16 shooting behind the three-point line.
Game 2 - Villanova 57, Siena 50
Box Score
In game two of the Fordham Holiday Classic, Villanova's Rachel Roberts scored 18 points, while Lindsay Kimmel had 17 points and five assists, as the Wildcats held off the Siena Saints for a 57-50 win at the Rose Hill Gym.
With the win, Villanova evens its record at 6-6, while Siena falls to 1-8.
The Wildcats started out on fire from the field, hitting 11 of their first 14 shots to pull out to a 31-8 lead. Siena would chip away at that large lead, cutting the deficit to ten, 33-23, on a three-pointer from Cristina Centeno late in the first half.
After Villanova scored the first basket of the second half, Siena scored the next seven points to trail by seven, 39-32 with 13:45 to go.
Villanova would bounce back to extend the lead back to double digits at 55-45 with only one minute to play on a basket by Laura Sweeney.
Siena gave one final push, getting a three-point play from Cathy Cockrum and a lay-up by Centeno to cut the deficit to five, but Lindsay Kimmel hit two free throws for Villanova in the final seconds to pull out the 57-50 win.
Siena's Cristina Centeno led all scorers with 24 points, hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range, while Serena Moore had a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
Besides Roberts and Kimmel, Sweeney also finished in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
