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Fordham Game Notes |
Illinois State Game Notes
After downing previously unbeaten Holy Cross and picking up their sixth consecutive victory, the Fordham Rams return to the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym on Sunday afternoon, playing host to the Redbirds of Illinois State.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Redbirds and the Rams, but that is not to say that the two programs are not familiar with one another. Â First-year head coach Barb Smith took the job in Normal, Ill., following one season as the associate head coach at Saint Louis University, where her Billikens squad twice faced the Rams that made a run to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Championship Game. Â Fordham won both of those matchups, a 61-56 thriller in Saint Louis and a 65-48 victory in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament.
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SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE: Â The Redbirds enter Sunday's contest having struggled to pick up wins early on this season, but Coach Smith's team has played their fair share of tough competition. Â Illinois State and Fordham share a common opponent in 12th ranked Penn State, who beat the Redbirds by only 12 in their meeting two weeks ago. Â The Rams fell to the Lady Lions by 17 in their second game of the season. Â Illinois State even picked up its only win over a quality opponent, a 68-64 triumph over Florida in the Bahamas.
Offensively, the Redbirds feature three players who average double figure scoring numbers, led by Chloe Nelson at 15 points per game. Â Alexis Foley, the team's best three-pointer shooting at just over 41 percent, adds 11.7 per outing, while a pair of Redbirds average over 7.5 boards per game (Octavia Crump and Brianna Puni).
ROONEY RUNS WILD: To say that
Erin Rooney has been having a "good" season so far in 2013-2014 would be an understatement of epic proportions. Â The 2012-2013 First Team All-Atlantic 10 and First Team All-Met Selection has been absolutely unconscious, averaging 22.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per contest.
The Christchurch, New Zealand, native ranks first in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, first in defensive rebouding, fourth in overall rebounding, second in three-point percentage, and second in minutes played. Â Nationally, Rooney ranks 20th in scoring, while also checking in at 37th in double-doubles, having registered four in just nine tries.
In nine games this year, Rooney has scored no fewer than 19 points in any one contest and has topped the 20-point mark in eight of those games.
Her shooting percentages have also been off the charts, ranking sixth in the conference with a 51 percent effort from the floor and second in the league from beyond the arc, converting on 47 percent of her tries from deep .
CORNING OFF TO HOT START: Â While
Erin Rooney's start has ranked among the best in the nation, teammate
Abigail Corning's first nine games have been among the best of her already impressive career. Â On the season, Corning is averaging 12.8 points per game while leading the team in assists with 5.2 helpers per outing. Â The Wethersfield, Conn., native has turned in a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio on the year, good enough for fifth in the conference, while ranking second on the team in rebounding with just a touch under seven per outing.
Like Rooney, Corning has been shooting the lights out in 2013-2014, converting on 49 percent of her tries from the floor (tenth in the conference) and 44 percent of her three-point attempts (fourth in the conference).
"CAN'T MISS" MISSRY: Before she even stepped foot on campus this summer, freshman
Hannah Missry was touted as one of the premier three-point shooters to ever come out of the state of New Jersey. Â Through nine games, she has certainly lived up to the hype, leading the team and ranking second in the conference with three long balls per game. Â The Jackson, N.J., native is shooting just a touch over 40 percent from beyond the arc, good enough for ninth in the Atlantic 10.
Nationally, Missry ranks 23rd in three point field goals made per game.
Against UNLV on November 30th, Missry shot 6-11 overall and 5-9 from downtown, registering her best game as a Ram with 20 points. Â That effort concluded a three game stretch where Missry averaged four long balls a game and shot 60 percent from three-point range.
