Box Score Feb. 1, 2012
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Bronx, N.Y. -
The sixth annual Rams School Day began with guest speaker, Dana Cavalea, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Yankees, addressing the students on the importance of physical fitness; afterwards, the children were treated to an exciting basketball game that saw La Salle triumph over Fordham, 56-55, on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx.
For the second straight game, the outcome was decided in the closing seconds. Last game, it was an Emily Tapio layup with two second left that sealed the win for Fordham. Today it was a Michea Bryant free throw that lifted the Explorers to the victory.
The raucous crowd was into the game early and the Rams responded in kind by hitting three of their first six shot attempts over the first four minutes of play to jump out to an 8-6 lead on baskets by Abigail Corning, Charlotte Stoddart and Arielle Collins, the last bucket coming at 15:56.
From there, the game went back and forth as neither side could grab a substantial lead. Trailing by one, and with the shot clock winding down, Tapio put a jumper off the glass to give Fordham a 16-15 lead at 7:43. The lead got pushed to three as Collins made a pair of foul shots, but La Salle answered, tying the game for the fifth time with a Ruvanna Campbell three-pointer at 5:49.
Fordham scored the next four points on a jumper from Corning and a pair of free throws from Christina Gaskin, but the Explorers would come back to even the score again on a Nadia Duncan jumper at 1:33.
The final minute and a half of the first saw La Salle score the final four points and take a 30-26 lead into halftime.
The second half began with Fordham rattling off four straight points on baskets from Becky Peters and Stoddart to even the score at 30, the eighth tie in the game.
A few minutes later, the Rams got four straight points from Corning to take a 34-32 lead and force La Salle to call a timeout at 16:05.
The next three and a half minutes of play saw the two sides once again seesaw back and forth. Eventually a Brittany Wilson jumper at 12:36 tied the game at 38-38, marking the eleventh time in the game the score was even.
From there, La Salle used a 14-4 run, over the next 7:30, to take a 10 point lead, its largest of the game. A Collins layup at 4:10 brought an end to the Explorers' scoring spree.
The final four minutes saw the Rams slowly eliminate the 10 point deficit to eventually draw even. Collins followed her layup with a three-pointer and Peters added a jumper to bring Fordham within six, 55-49. The Rams would tie the game on back-to-back three pointers from Stoddart, the second one coming with 33 seconds left in regulation that brought the rambunctious crowd to its feet once again.
On La Salle's ensuing possession, Tapio attempted to take a charge in the lane but was whistled for a blocking foul. Bryant made the first foul shot and missed the second, but the desperation toss by Peters came after the clock expired and the Explorers had the one point win.
Fordham is now 11-12 overall, 2-6 in the A-10. Charlotte Stoddart led the Rams with a career-high 15 points, while Collins chipped in with 14 and Corning contributed 12.
The team returns to action on Saturday, February 4, as they travel to Philadelphia to take on Atlantic 10 opponent, Temple, at 2:00 PM.
Notes: The School Day attendance of 1,676 was the second largest for a School Day at Fordham, as the 2009 School Day had 1,734 people show up...Charlotte Stoddart set a career-high in points (15) and tied a career-best in field goals (6), both of those marks were set earlier in the season against Winthrop...Fordham shot 52% in the second, half, which was the second time this season they shot above 50% in the final 20 minutes of play (Winthrop, 12-17).
