Box Score Nov. 26, 2011
Final Stats
Orlando, Fla. -
It was a tale of two halves for the women's basketball team on Saturday as they faced TCU in the final game of the UCF Thanksgiving Tournament with a chance to go 2-0. However, a ferocious comeback by the Rams fell just short as Fordham fell to the Horned Frogs, 48-47.
The game started inauspiciously for Fordham as the TCU scored the first ten points of the game, all in the paint. Freshman forward Christina Gaskin, normally a starter for the Rams, came off the bench due to an illness and TCU capitalized inside. Fordham managed to get on the board when Charlotte Stoddart nailed a three-pointer at the 14:07 mark.
The Horned Frogs extended their lead to 15 points over the next ten minutes with a 13-4 run. The Rams' points came from a Stoddart reverse layup in traffic and a pair of foul shots from Gaskin.
Over the last four minutes of the opening half, Becky Peters scored four points to get the Rams within 11, but the Horned Frogs bumped the lead to 14 at the intermission, 28-14.
In the opening twenty minutes, the Rams only mustered 14 points, though they got many open looks that just didn't fall, shot 5-of-28 from the field, and leading scorer Abigail Corning was held scoreless.
The second half saw Fordham fight hard on defense, play physically on the boards, and mount a serious comeback. The Rams began by cutting the lead to twelve, on a Stoddart jumper at 13:24, making the score 30-18.
The Horned Frogs then used the next five minutes to go on a 13-6 run to build a game-high 19-point lead, 43-24, at 8:22 on a Latricia Lovings layup.
Fordham turned up the intensity from there and used the next 8:05 to erase the 19-point deficit. The comeback began with the insertion of Kelly McGovern into the lineup, whose aggressive defense helped the team create some turnovers and a pair of hoops and fouls from Taryn Durant and Arielle Collins brought the Rams within 14, 43-29, at 6:32.
After a TCU three-pointer, Corning answered with seven straight points on a three-pointer and four free throws to bring Fordham to within 45-36 at 4:54.
The Horned Frogs halted the Fordham run on a Whitney Williams foul shot, but a three-pointer from Gaskin and two trifectas from Corning reduced the TCU lead to one, 46-45 with 38 seconds left.
From there, the Rams worked the ball inside and Collins drew a foul on a drive to the hoop. She calmly drilled both free throws and Fordham had a one-point lead 47-46 with 17 ticks remaining.
TCU had the ball at the end and after Williams missed the go-ahead layup with four seconds left, Antoinette Thompson was fouled on the rebound. She hit both free throws and the Horned Frogs held on for a one-point win, 48-47.
For the game, Corning scored a game-high 13 points while Gaskin came off the bench to contribute ten points. The Rams outscored the Horned Frogs 16-6 off of turnovers.
Fordham is now 3-2 on the season and finished the tournament at 1-1. The Rams return to action on Wednesday, November 30, when they face Manhattan College, in the annual "Battle of the Bronx" at 7:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
Arielle Collins grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds....Her previous high was six against Memphis in 2010...The Rams outrebounded the Horned Frogs 47-38, the fourth time this year Fordham won the battle on the boards...Taryn Durant started her first game for the Rams...The team shot 85.7% from the free throw line (12-14).
