Box Score Jan. 14, 2012
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Bronx, N.Y. -
Winning Atlantic 10 conference games is nothing new for Fordham head coach Stephanie Gaitley, as she ranks third in conference victories among the league's all-time head coaches. Today she added one more to that total when Fordham defeated Rhode Island, 69-49, on Alumni Day from the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx. Becky Peters paced the Rams with a game-high 20 points.
The Rams got off to their characteristic slow start as they opened the game by missing their first three shot attempts until a Christina Gaskin three-pointer at 17:26 gave Fordham a 3-2 lead. Rhode Island answered with a Chari Lehnertz layup, but the Rams would tie the score, 4-4, when Peters made a foul shot at 16:31.
From there, the Rams used the next 3:44 of game time to go on a 10-4 run to build a six-point lead. During the scoring spree, Fordham got baskets from Charlotte Stoddart, Arielle Collins and Peters. URI would pull to within two, 16-14, on a basket at 11:11, but once again Fordham would respond.
Peters drove through the paint, drew a double team, and found Abigail Corning for an easy layup and an 18-14 lead at 10:41. Rhode Island would answer with a small, 5-1 run to draw even at 19-19.
With the score tied, Stoddart buried a three-pointer to make the score 22-19 and on the next possession, Collins stole the ball and took it back for a layup to give the Rams a 24-19 lead at 5:45.
Fordham built a 13-point advantage over the final five and half minutes of the first half on hoops from Collins and Emily Tapio, who put Fordham ahead 38-23 with a short jumper in the closing seconds of the half to make the score 38-25 at the break.
The second stanza began with a pair of Fordham baskets from Corning and Gaskin to give the Rams a 43-25 lead at 17:53. Rhode Island suffered through a 2:51 scoring drought which helped the Rams push their advantage to 22 when Collins hit a foul shot to make the score 58-36 at 11:20.
URI got within 13, 60-47, on a Sherrie Session jumper at 4:35, but got no closer and Fordham pushed the lead back to 22, 69-47, when Schyler Morton made a three-pointer with 0:12 remaining.
In the 69-49 win, Peters led all scorers with 20 while Collins added 15. Fordham improved to 10-8 overall on the season, 1-2 in A-10 games. Rhode Island is 1-17, 0-3.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday, January 18, when they face Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia at 7:00 PM.
Notes: Fordham outscored URI on second chance points, 21-8...Fordham led at the half for the 11th time this season...They also outrebounded their opponent for the 13th time this season...The Rams held their 12th opponent below the 50 point barrier this year...Becky Peters passed Nicole Williams for fifth position in career starts (96)...She also eclipsed Annie Zopf for fifth in career minutes (3,330)...Peters also now has 1,206 career points, eighth on the Fordham all-time scoring list.
