Feb. 12, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham will travel to Philadelphia on Saturday, Feb. 13 when the Rams meet the La Salle Explorers for the second time this season. The Explorers are the only team the Rams see twice in regular season Atlantic 10 play. The game will tip off at 1 p.m. at the Tom Gola Arena.
Fordham fans can follow the action live via webcast provided on GoExplorers.com. The game will also be broadcast live on the home of Rams Basketball, WFUV (FM 90.7) or online at www.WFUV.org.
Both Fordham and La Salle are looking to put an end to their recent losing streaks. La Salle is 0-9 in conference play this season, while Fordham has two wins and sits just one spot above the Explorers in the league standings.
For the Rams, who defeated the Explorers on Jan. 30, 57-47 at Rose Hill, another win in the conference will help put them in better position to qualify for their first Atlantic 10 Tournament appearance since 2005-06. In the next three games, starting with La Salle, Fordham plays the three contenders with Saint Louis and George Washington all vying for a Tournament berth. With two weeks and four games left Rhode Island, Saint Louis and George Washington all sit at 2-7 in the A-10.
SCOUTING LA SALLE: La Salle is winless in the conference at 0-9 and 5-19 overall. The Explorers are coming off losses to Temple (Feb. 6) and Saint Louis (Feb. 10) where they lost by 21, 55-34 to the Owls and 62-51 to the Billikens. The Explorers are 1-9 at the Tom Gola Arena, with a 67-51 victory over Penn on Jan. 2.
Since the last time the Rams and Explorers met three weeks ago, senior Morgan Robertson continues to lead La Salle with 10.3 points per game. Robertson's 138 total rebounds are also a team high. Against Fordham on Jan. 30, the Rams held Robertson to just six points. Robertson has led the team on nine occasions in the points category. The senior scored eight points against both Temple and Saint Louis.
Jamie Walsh is the team's second-best consistent scorer with 9.4 ppg. The Gale sisters, Ashley and Antonia are third and fourth with 7.3 and 6.3 ppg, respectively. Antonia Gale and Walsh led the Explorers against Saint Louis with 11 points and 10 points, the only Explorers to score in the double-digits.
RAMS VS. EXPLORERS - THE SERIES: Saturday's contest marks the 16th meeting between Fordham and La Salle in a series history dating back to 1983. La Salle holds the all-time series record, 30-7, and the Explorers are 14-3 at Tom Gola Arena. Last season, the Rams broke the Explorers fivegame win-streak with a 48-45 victory on Feb. 7, 2009 at La Salle. Fordham made it back-to-back victories for the first time in the series history on Jan. 30 when the Rams defeated La Salle, 57-47, at Rose Hill.
WHEN LAST THEY MET: The teams last saw each other on Jan. 30, 2010 at Rose Hill Gym. Randall Hurst led the Rams with 20 points, her sixth 20-point game of the season. The Rams shot 82.6 percent from the free throw line, 19-of-23, led by Kyara Weekes who was a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe. The game was tied at halftime, 20-20, when La Salle shot a trey at the buzzer in the first. La Salle led 28-24 before Fordham went on a 15-4 run to go and stay ahead.
La Salle cut it close with just over five minutes remaining as the Explorers cut the Rams' lead to three, 45-42, with another three from Lapetina. Ten-of-11 made free throws down the stretch, including four straight from Kristina Bell with 40 seconds left in regulation, were the difference maker as Fordham pulled ahead 57-47, for the final tally. La Salle was led by Tara Lapetina with nine points, all of 3-point shots.
LAST TIME OUT: Piloted by 10 3-pointers, shooting 75 percent in the second half, the Dayton Flyers were able to keep a steady lead over the Fordham Rams, despite a season-best field goal shooting effort of nine field goals from Ram sophomore guard Becky Peters. The Flyers won 72-42 at Rose Hill on Feb. 11. Peters' 19 points came of 9-for-19 shooting, and tied her second-best point scoring effort this season. The last time Peters' had 19 points was against Rider on Dec. 5. Peters' 19 points were a team high, while junior forward Tiffany Stokes led the Rams at the boards with seven. Junior guard Kyara Weekes added three assists to her season total.
Dayton led by just a steady seven points for the majority of the game before pulling away in the middle of the second half. Fordham was down just 32-25 at the half. The Rams' defense held the Flyers to just four points in the opening six minutes of the second half, half the amount of points from the first. Peters got the ball rolling for the Rams with another two baskets, bringing Fordham within their closest margin since the beginning of the first half, 34-29, at 16:43.
With just over a minute to play, Dayton had their largest lead of the game, 72-39, spurred by a 24-6 run over a nine-minute span from 12:10 to 2:55.
ADDITIONAL NOTES vs. LA SALLE: Against La Salle on Jan. 30, in the first half, all of Fordham's points were scored by three of the Rams' starters. Tiffany Stokes, Becky Peters and Randall Hurst were the only Ram players to score. Hurst and Stokes had seven each, while Peters tallied six. The 20-20 score at the half was a season-first for the Rams, making the squad's record 1-0 when tied at the period break. Fordham is 6-4 overall when leading at halftime, 1-13 when trailing.
The Jan. 30th win was the first time the Rams recorded two Atlantic 10 wins since 2005-06.
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. Twitter fans can also get an inside look at Fordham Athletics by becoming an @FordhamRams follower.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: The Rams return home on Tuesday, Feb. 16 to host the Saint Louis Billikens at 7 p.m. at Rose Hill Gym. The contest is Fordham's 2010 WBCA Pink Zone game, benefiting the Kay Yow Fund.
Fans are encouraged to show their support for the Pink Zone initiative by wearing pink on game day. $2 Door donations will be collected in support of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer fund.
Saint Louis is 2-7 in the conference and 8-16 overall. The Billikens, George Washington Colonials and Rhode Island Rhodies are all tied for 10th in the Atlantic 10.
