Feb. 16, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham women's basketball will host the Saint Louis Billikens at Rose Hill on Tuesday night for their annual WBCA Pink Zone contest. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. as the Rams (8-18, 2-9 A-10) continue their quest for an Atlantic 10 tournament bid.
Ram Fans can follow all the A-10 action from the Bronx by tuning into WFUV (FM 90.7) for the play-by-play called by Tom Felice with color commentary by Casey Hunt. Live webcast and GameTracker live stats will also be provided on FordhamSports.com.
TODAY'S GAME: The SLU Billikens (8-17, 2-8 A-10) are also on the hunt for an A-10 Tournament spot as four teams are tied with two wins in the conference with two weeks left to play.
Fordham is looking to rebound off of four straight losses in the league, most recently a 70-62 loss at La Salle in Philadelphia on Saturday, Feb. 13.
The Billikens are 6-1 in their last seven games, with the lone win against La Salle, 62-51, on Feb. 10. Saint Louis has three games left to play after today's game, facing Charlotte, George Washington and Richmond. Saint Louis' wins mirror Fordham's as they have defeated both La Salle and Rhode Island in league match ups.
SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS: The Billikens are led by Lauren Woods with 13.6 points per game, with Amanda Kemezys and Katie Paganelli following with 12.7 and 11.5 ppg, respectively. Kemezys is alos the Billikens' leading rebounder with 9.1 per game, 3.1 offensive boards per contest. The 6-4 Kemezys is also SLU's leading blocker with 16.
Within the week, Paganelli has edged out Fordham's Kristina Bell for first in the league in free throw percentage with .877 (50-57). Bell is now second with an average of .873 (55-63).
Saint Louis is coming off a tough 71-67 loss at Saint Louis on Feb. 13 the first of their two-game East Coast, A-10 road trip this week. The Billikens overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to take the lead in the second half, but SJU came back to win it. The Billikens shot 43.3 percent from the floor, it's best mark in an A-10 game this season. They out-rebounded the Hawks, 33-31, after being behind 20-13 at the half. The 67-point total was the highest mark for Saint Louis this season.
RAMS VS. BILLIKENS - THE SERIES: Tuesday's contest marks the fifth meeting between the two teams who's series histories is one of the newest. The Rams and Billikens have only seen each other in A-10 conference play, where SLU holds a three-game lead over Fordham.
Fordham's only win was the teams' first meeting on Feb. 26, 2006. The Rams shot 54.5 percent to the Billikens' 33.3 percent. Fordham led by just two points, 27-25, at the half. Fordham's bench scored 36 points to SLU's four.
WHEN LAST THEY MET: The teams last saw each at Chaifetz Arena in Missouri on Jan. 12, 2009, when the Billikens defeated the Rams 64-48. Both teams were looking for a conference win. Kyara Weekes led the Rams in scoring with 12 points, while Becky Peters added 11 and Randall Hurst tallied nine. Weekes also led Fordham in rebounding with seven boards.
SLU's Theresa Lisch scored the Billikens' team high of 19 points. Amanda Kemezys followed with 17.
Despite just a four point deficit at halftime, 35-31, Fordham was outscored 29-17 in the second period. Saint Louis led by as much as 18 with two minutes left to play.
LAST TIME OUT: It was a déjà vu scene from Tom Gola Arena as the Fordham women's basketball team was tied at 26 with La Salle at the half -- this time with Fordham tying the score with a 3-pointer as time ticked off the clock. But it was the perimeter shooting from La Salle's senior Jamie Walsh that gave the Rams a different ending than a couple weeks ago as the Explorers slipped past Fordham, 70-62, on Feb. 13.
After a quiet first half, senior forward Randall Hurst led the Rams with her seventh 20-point game of the season as she sunk 22 points off 8-of-13 shooting. Sophomore Becky Peters recorded 10 points in the first half, en route to a 15-point overall performance. La Salle's Walsh finished the game 5-of-9 from the 3-point range, helping the Explorers to 10-of-17 shooting from long range.
At the half, Peters had 10 points, off 4-of-6 shooting, while eight La Salle players had scored at least one point. The Rams were shooting 41.7 percent, compared to the 26.9 percent shooting from the teams' first meeting this season (Jan. 30). La Salle was 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from the 3-point arc, 40 percent better than their previous 1-of-6 performance at Rose Hill.
RAMS IN RESERVE: At Massachusetts (Feb. 6), the Rams helped themselves bounce back from a 22-6 Minutewoman run with energy from the bench. Fordham scored 28 bench points, 12 points more than UMass and six more than the Fordham starting line up. Sophomore Tyonna Willingham led the 'Reserve Rams' with a team and career-high 16 points, sinking a perfect 3-for-3 3-point goals. Rookie Arielle Collins dished out her career-best four helpers.
In Fordham's victory over Rhode Island, the Ram bench scored 18 points, led by Becky Peters and Caitlin Shadbolt with a combined 12 points. Randall Hurst came off the bench at La Salle (Feb. 13) to score a team-best 22 points, 16 in the second half.
REBOUNDIN' RAMS: Against Richmond, the Rams grabbed 34 boards to the Spiders' 24, with Tiffany Stokes leading the way with 11 rebounds. The Rams boxed out the Spiders enough to take down 28 rebounds off Richmond's missed shots. On offense, Fordham scored 10 second-chance points to Richmond's four. Against La Salle (Jan. 30), Fordham had 16 more rebounds than the Explorers, accounting for 11 second-chance points for the Rams. The Rams have out-rebounded eight teams this year, four by double-digit margins. Randall Hurst leads the team in rebounding percentage overall with 6.3 rebounds per game, 109 total defensive rebounds. Tiffany Stokes has 95 defensive rebounds, 157 overall (6.0 per game).
In the Atlantic 10, the Rams have moved up to sixth in defensive rebounding percentage and fifth in rebounding defense.
WBCA PINK ZONE DAY: Today’ 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. The Pink Zone is a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
All fans that wear pink to the game will be admitted FREE! If you don't own a pink shirt, be one of the first 250 people to enter the gate to either game and receive a FREE pink t-shirts, rally towel and pom-pom! A $2 door donation to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund ™ is suggested.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: The Rams will travel again for the third-straight weekend, this time to Washington, D.C., to face the George Washington Colonials on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tip off is slated for 2 p.m.
