BRONX, N.Y. - March 23, 2013 - The magic just keeps on coming for Fordham. The Rams downed the Terriers of Boston University 58-44 in the Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, clinching a spot in the Sweet 16 of the WNIT and giving the 2012-2013 Rams the second-highest win total in program history.
The Rams will face the winner of tomorrow's game between James Madison and NC State. Date and time of that game are not yet determined.
Fordham featured three scorers in double figures on the day, as Marah Strickland scored a game-high 14, while Erin Rooney and Arielle Collins chipped in 12 apiece. Samantha Clark registered nine points and six boards for the game.
Collins got Fordham on the board early, sinking a pair of free throws to put Fordham up, 2-0, 1:30 in the game.
After the Terriers scored six unanswered to take 6-2 lead, the Rams offense ignited. A trio of treys highlighted a 15-2 Rams run, as the women of Rose Hill took a 17-8 lead with 13:28 to go in the half. Strickland nailed a pair of threes and Clark scored four points on the run.
A Kristen Sims three-pointer ended four scoreless minutes for the Terriers, and BU kept the deficit within seven before Charlotte Stoddart nailed a baseline jumper to make the score 21-12 with just under nine minutes left in the half.
BU narrowed the lead to eight, 23-15, on a Chantell Alford three-pointer, but Stoddart responded with her own shot from downtown, pushing the Rams ahead by 11 with five minutes to go until the break.
Arielle Collins
Alford hit again for the Terriers, narrowing the deficit to nine, but Strickland made a pair from the charity stripe to put Fordham up 28-17 with 1:28 left until halftime.
BU chipped the lead back down to nine before the half, and the Rams entered the intermission with a 28-19 advantage.
The Terriers started off the second half scoring with a Mo Moran layup on their first possession of the period. The Hopewell Junction, N.Y., native scored again on BU's next trip down the court to cut the lead to five, 28-23, under two minutes into the half.
But Clark, who's shown range on several occasions this year, bumped the lead back to eight with baseline three-pointer less than a minute later.
After a Fordham stop, it was Clark again for the Rams, this time scoring on a layup to put Fordham back up by ten, 33-23, with 16:53 to go in the half.
Collins extended the lead to the 12 on a pair of free throws less than 30 seconds later, and Fordham kept a lead in that area over the next several minutes before Kristen Sims nailed a three to pull BU within eight with just over 12 minutes to go.
With 10:24 left in the half, Sims made a layup through contact, but missed the free throw to make it three, keeping the Fordham lead at 41-35.
Strickland drove hard to the basket just over a minute later and banked one in to put Fordham back up by eight, 43-35, with nine minutes left in the half.
The two teams went scoreless for nearly four minutes after that before Rooney drove through the lane and put one off glass, putting Fordham back ahead by ten for the first time in nearly seven minutes.
After a stop on the defensive end, Collins banked a layup after an ankle-breaking step back reminiscent of Kyrie Irving to give Fordham a 47-35 lead with just under five to go.
Four straight free throws from Collins over the next minute gave the Rams their largest advantage of the game so-far at 14 with three and a half minutes to go.
Fordham continued its effort on the offensive end, extending the lead as high as 17 over the game's closing minutes and closing out the contest with a 58-44 victory.
Abigail Corning finished the game with a packed stat line for the Rams, scoring six points, grabbing six boards and dishing out four assists.
