Rams Defense Dominates in Win over Illinois State

Box Score

After three games this season, the Rams were below .500 for the first time in a year and a half and had surrendered an uncharacteristic 77.5 points per game in losses to Penn State and Hofstra.  Whatever the problem was early in the season, it's certainly fixed now. 
 
The Rams (8-2) won their seventh game in a row on Sunday afternoon, improving to 5-0 on their home court with a 57-32 victory over Illinois State (1-6).
 
The game marked the best defensive effort from the Rams against a Division I opponent since January 18^th, 1995, when Fordham downed Lafayette 39-31 in Easton, Pa.  Fordham held the Redbirds to just six points in the first half, only three away from the NCAA record for fewest points in a period.
 
Erin Rooney led the Rams with 14 points on the afternoon, marking only the second time this season that the Christchurch, New Zealand, native failed to crack the 20 point plateau.  Rooney also added six boards and dished out a pair of assists.
 
Two other Rams finished in double figures, with Emily Tapio scoring 11 and Abigail Corning chipping in ten.  Corning also pulled down a game-high eight boards and distributed a game-high six assists.
 
Samantha Clark had another solid game for the Rams, scoring nine points on 4-7 shooting and grabbing eight boards.
 
Tapio had the Rams rolling in the early going, scoring five of the team's first seven points before Rooney drained one from deep to put Fordham up 10-4 and force an ISU timeout with just over 13 minutes to go.
 
The remainder of the first half proved to be one of the most one-sided periods in the history of Fordham basketball.  The Rams kept scoring, but their defense would not allow Illinois State to get a good look at the basket.  The Redbirds went scoreless for 17 minutes and 22 seconds, as Fordham rattled off 28 in a row to take a 31-4 lead.  The Rams held the Redbirds to just seven percent shooting from the floor in the opening stanza.
 
Illinois State found more offensive success in the beginning of the second half, but Fordham continued to pour it on, taking a 38-12 lead into the first media timeout of the period.
 
The Rams would not allow the Redbirds to get within closer than 25 points the rest of the way.
 
Fordham will take the remainder of the week off for finals, playing again on Saturday in the annual Battle of the Bronx at Manhattan College.  Tip-off is at 7 PM.