Box Score Dec. 11, 2011
Final Stats
Stony Brook, N.Y. -
For fans of defensive basketball, the Fordham-Stony Brook game on Sunday was a work of art, especially for the Rams who held the Seawolves to the fewest points scored by a Fordham opponent this year en route to a 41-37 win in the Prichard Gym.
The Rams held Stony Brook to shooting just 27.1% (16-59) from the field, the lowest shooting percentage for any Fordham opponent in 2011-12, while also holding the Seawolves without a three-pointer in the game.
After winning the tip, turning the ball over and allowing a Stony Brook basket to open the game, the Rams answered with three-pointers from Arielle Collins and Abigail Corning to lead 6-4 over the first four minutes.
The Seawolves then had nearly a six minute scoreless stretch between a pair of Gerda Gatling free throws as the Rams took an 11-6 lead following a Liz Milner jumper at the 8:14 mark.
A pair of Becky Peters foul shots gave the Rams a 13-7 lead until Whitney Davis scored back to back buckets for Stony Brook to get them to within two, 13-11, at 3:23. Collins then stole the ball and went coast to coast for a layup and on the next possession Charlotte Stoddart drew a foul down low and made one of two foul shots as did Collins with 1:47 left as Fordham took a 17-11 lead at the half.
The 11 points scored by Stony Brook were the fewest Fordham has allowed in the half since they allowed 13 against Holy Cross on November 20, 2010.
The Rams came out of halftime and opened up a 10 point lead, 24-14, at 15:57, on a 7-3 run that included five points from Stoddart.
After the media timeout at 15:57, Stony Brook netted consecutive layups from Jessica Previlon to bring them within six, but a Stoddart layup at 14:15 put the Rams up 26-18.
From there, the Seawolves used a 4-0 run to pull within four, 26-22, at 13:05, forcing Fordham to use a timeout. The Rams then executed a backdoor play for a bucket as Stoddart found a cutting Corning for an open layup, making the score 28-22 for Fordham.
Out of the media timeout at 10:57, Fordham ripped off five straight points to extend its lead to eleven, 33-22, on a three-pointer from Stoddart and a pull-up jumper from Peters. The 11 point advantage was their largest lead of the game.
Stony Brook used an 11-2 run to make it a two-point contest, 35-33, with just over a minute remaining, until a foul on Dani Klupenger with 40 seconds left put Emily Tapio on the line for a one-in-one. Tapio calmly drilled both foul shots to give Fordham some breathing room.
After Whitney Davis hit a short jumper to bring Stony Brook back to within two, 37-35, with 14 seconds remaining, the Seawolves fouled to stop the clock the rest of the way and Collins hit four free throws in the final 12 seconds to ice the game for Fordham.
Fordham was led by Stoddart and Collins, who each finished with 10 points. Stoddart nearly had a double-double as she also grabbed nine rebounds, seven of them defensive.
With the win, Fordham improves to 6-4 while Stony Brook falls to 1-8.
The Rams return to action on December 17th as they host Winthrop in the Rose Hill Gym at 2:00 PM.
Notes: Tapio scored her first career points making a foul line jumper and a pair of free throws...The game was the sixth time in the last 16 years the Rams held an opponent under 40 points, the first time since Holy Cross on November 20, 2010, a game Fordham won 67-36...The 41 points was lowest winning score for Fordham in the shot clock era.
