Box Score Dec. 30, 2011
Box Score | Photo Gallery
Bronx, N.Y. - The championship game of the Fordham Holiday Classic played on Friday, December 30, in the Rose Hill Gym turned out to be a contest worthy of a title game as Coppin State defeated Fordham 61-60 on a last second shot. With the loss, the Fordham women's basketball team falls to 8-5 and ends a three-game winning streak. The Eagles are now 4-9.
The game got off to an auspicious start for the Rams as they jumped out to the early 13-4 advantage over the first four and a half minutes of play. Fordham opened the game with a long three-pointer by Christina Gaskin that banked off the glass to beat the shot clock. From there, the Rams pushed the lead to 7-0 with the Fordham buckets coming from Abigail Corning and Arielle Collins.
The Eagles countered with a layup from Kyra Coleman to make it 7-2, but Gaskin and Corning hit three pointers that were interrupted by a basket from Jeanine Manley to make the score 13-4 at 15:25. The nine point edge was the largest lead of the game for the Rams.
Coppin State then used a 10-0 run over the next 3:43 to erase the deficit and take a one-point lead, 14-13. In that stretch, four points came from Manley, who led the Eagles with 20 in the contest.
With Coppin State clinging to a 14-13 lead, the Rams used an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 21-14, at the 10:17 mark. The scoring spree featured five points from Becky Petersand three from Corning.
The Eagles countered once again with an 11-3 run to take a 25-24 lead at 5:49. Less than half a minute later, Emily Tapioscored inside and the Rams owned a 26-25 advantage.
The final five minutes of the half saw the score go back and forth until Fordham took a 35-31 lead on another Tapio basket, this one with 0:17 remaining. The Rams took the four point cushion into the break.
The second half began sloppily for both teams as they missed several shots early. A Collins layup at 18:01 extended the Fordham lead to eight, at 39-31, but Coppin quickly countered with a 10-2 run over the next five minutes to even the score at 41-41.
Both sides would share the lead on five different occasions until Charlotte Stoddartburied a three-pointer at 4:36, that gave Fordham a 57-52 lead. Coppin State answered with a pair of buckets from Manley and Coleman, and the Rams' advantage shrank to one, 57-56, with about three minutes left.
A hoop and harm from Ashle Craig gave the Eagles a 59-57 lead with 0:57 left in regulation. But the Rams had an answer as Corning came around a screen and buried an open three-pointer to give Fordham the one-point lead with 0:42 remaining.
The scored stayed at 60-59 for Fordham until they called timeout with six seconds left. Out of the intermission, Coppin State inbounded the ball for Manley, who had 20 points to this point, but the ball went through her hands and it was scooped up by Crystal Whittington who made the go-ahead layup with 0:03 left. The Rams missed a desperation toss at the end and Coppin State had the win.
Corning led all scorers with 21 points while Collins finished with eleven points and Gaskin chipped in with ten.
At the conclusion of the game, the all-tournament team was announced and was comprised of Jade Geif from Navy, Boston's Caroline Stewart and Fordham's Abigail Corning. Coppin State had Jeanine Manley on the team and Crystal Whittington was named the MVP.
Fordham returns to action on Monday, January 2, when they welcome the Cornell Big Red into the Rose Hill Gym for a 7:00 PM matchup. The game on Monday will closeout a four-game home stand.
Game Notes: Emily Tapio was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and had all six bench points for the Rams...Fordham outrebounded Coppin State 38-33...The game featured 11 lead changes...Abigail Corning came within a rebound of her first career double-double...The 8-5 start was the best since the 2002-03 team began the year with a 9-4 record.
