Nov. 10, 2011

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Bronx, N.Y. - The 2011-12 season is set to begin for the Fordham women's basketball team as they host the University at Albany on Friday, November 11 at 8 PM. The team features a new coaching staff, led by first-year head coach Stephanie Gaitley, and has 10 new players competing for time.

Coach Gaitley brings 25 years of experience with her and in that time she has amassed a career record of 464-270. She has made coaching stops at Monmouth, LIU, Saint Joseph's and Richmond prior to her arrival at Fordham. Her teams have 10 postseason appearances including seven trips to the NCAA and three WNIT appearances. Joining her on the coaching staff are Angelika Szumilo, Salee Johnson-Edwards and Laura Forbes.

The 10 new players on the team include a graduate student, a junior and eight freshmen. The graduate student, Marah Strickland, played at South Carolina, while junior Erin Rooney is a transfer from Monmouth. The other newcomers are Taryn Durant, Christina Gaskin, Kelly McGovern, Liz Milner, Schyler Morton, Taylor Reif, Cody Sims and Emily Tapio. They will be joined by five returning players for the Rams. Leading the way for the veteran players is senior Becky Peters.

Peters was the team's leading scorer last season and she enters the contest with Albany just six points shy of 1,000. Other key returnees include Arielle Collins, Abigail Corning, Ranait Griff and Charlotte Stoddart.

The Rams and the Great Danes met in Albany last season and Fordham won, 48-43. In that victory, Peters led all scorers with 12 points and Corning came one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. This will be the third meeting between the two schools and Fordham has won both prior games.

Following the season-opener with Albany, the Rams return to action on Wednesday, November 16, when the team welcomes Cleveland State into the Rose Hill Gym. The start time for that game is 7:00 P.M.