Nov. 6, 2012
Bronx, N.Y. -
Season and individual game tickets for the 2012-2013 Fordham University men's and women's basketball season are now on sale through the Fordham Ticket Office. Get yours by calling the ticket office at 718-817-4759 or 855-RAM-TIXS (855-726-8497) or order men's tickets online at www.FordhamSports.com.
The 2012-2013 version of the Fordham University men's basketball squad will be another young team, but a team that is full of talent. Tom Pecora's 15-man roster is comprised of two seniors, one junior, six sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and four true freshmen.
Leading the way for the men's squad will be one of the seniors, forward Chris Gaston, a 2012 First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick who will continue his ascension on Fordham's career scoring and rebounding lists. A Second Team All-Atlantic 10 and Second Team All-Met selection last year, Gaston led the 2011-12 Rams in both scoring and rebounding for the third straight year, averaging 17.1 ppg and 9.9 rpg. He enters the 2012-13 season with 1,428 career points, good for eleventh place on the Fordham all-time scoring list, and 911 career rebounds, placing him sixth on the Fordham all-time rebounding list.
Gaston will be joined by returning starters junior Branden Frazier and sophomores Bryan Smith and Devon McMillan, all guards. Frazier didn't suffer through a sophomore jinx last year as he improved on his freshman season, averaging 11.7 ppg and 2,4 rpg while leading the Rams with 118 assists and ranking fourth with 31 steals. He ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 in assists/turnover ratio (1.9) and sixth in assists/game (4.1). Frazier started all 29 games for the Rams in 2011-12, recording 16 double digit scoring games, including four 20-point contests.
Smith, who was twice named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, was third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.9 ppg along with 3.2 rpg, recording double figures in scoring 15 times on the year, including two 20-point games. He led the team with 54 three-pointers made and with 38 steals.
McMillan averaged 7.4 ppg and 2.7 rpg while dishing out 81 assists, second best on the team, and registering 3 steals, third best on the squad.
Other returning experience players include Jeff Short and Ryan Canty and they will be joined by four newcomers, guards Mandell Thomas and Jermaine Myers and forwards Travion Leonard and Ryan Rhoomes, as the Rams look to make a move in the strong Atlantic 10 conference.
The Fordham women, who are led by second-year head coach Stephanie Gaitley returns four starters from last year's squad, led by senior guard Arielle Collins, who started all 30 contests as a junior, setting career-highs in most offensive categories. She led the team in scoring (11.1 ppg), assists (99), steals (57), and minutes per game (38.3 mpg), netting double figures in scoring in 18 of 30 games.
Collins is joined by returning starters
Abigail Corning,
Charlotte Stoddart and
Christina Gaskin. Last year Corning was third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.5 ppg along with 5.2 rpg, while Stoddart was fourth, averaging 7.5 ppg, and she led the Rams with 6.4 rpg. Gaskin averaged 5.1 ppg and 3.9 rpg, leading the squad with 33 blocks.
The four returning starters will be joined by two talented transfers, Erin Rooney and Marah Strickland. Rooney, a transfer from Monmouth University, was a member of the New Zealand Senior National Team last summer, competing in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. At Monmouth Rooney was second on the 2010-11 team in scoring, averaging 11.0 ppg.
Strickland played in 19 games at South Carolina in 2010-11, netting double figures in scoring nine times. She started her collegiate career at Maryland, starting 59 of 70 games in two seasons with the Terrapins and etching her name among Maryland's top 10 in career three-point field goals made.
The starters and transfers will be joined by returnees Taryn Durant, Ranait Griff, Liz Milner and Emily Tapio. Newcomers who will contribute include freshmen Samantha Clark, Fordham's first top-100 recruit who was an All-State selection in New Jersey in 2011-12 and a finalist for the 2012 Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year award, and Khadijah Gibson, a First Team All-Maryland Gazette and First Team All-Conference selection last year, and junior transfer Kyra Holiday, who played at Monroe College last year after starting her collegiate career at Central Michigan.
The men's team will open its season on Friday, November 9, when they travel to San Marco, Texas, to face the Texas State University Bobcats at 8:00 p.m. (EST). The women open the season that same night as they travel to Albany to face the University at Albany at 8:30 p.m. The first women's home game with be on Sunday, November 18, as they host Delaware State at 2:00 p.m. while the men will open their home schedule on Thursday, November 29, by hosting Manhattan College in the annual Battle of the Bronx.
