It may have taken a while for the Rams to get used to playing in outdoor conditions, but a second half outburst helped Fordham finished their foreign tour in winning fashion, downing the Fijian National Team 55-36 on Saturday afternoon.
Erin Rooney led the Rams with 13 points, while Samantha Clark chipped in nine and freshman Danielle Padovano added eight.
The contest was certainly the most unique played by the Rams so far on their trip across the Pacific, taking place in a tiny public park on a concrete surface, fenced in like some South Pacific version of The Cage on West Fourth Street.
The Rams got on the board first, as Mary Nwachukwu converted on an and-one, giving Fordham a 3-0 advantage less than a minute into the contest. From there, the Rams struggled to make a bucket, allowing the Fijians to score seven in a row and take a four point advantage just about halfway through the opening period.
Fordham, however, quickly responded. Abigail Corning nailed a jumper and Rooney scored five consecutive points, putting the Rams back ahead by three at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter, quite strangely, moved along so quickly that murmurs in the stands suggested that the clock may have never even stopped for timeouts. Although nothing conclusively accounted for the pace of the period, the fact remained that the Rams outscored the Fijians three to two in the second quarter. Heading into the half, a last second layup from Clark gave the Rams a 13-9 lead.
Whatever troubles the Rams may have had in the opening half on the offensive end promptly disappeared at the start of the third quarter. Nwachukwu and Emily Tapio each scored early in the stanza, moving the Rams ahead by nine, 17-9, with just under two minutes gone by.
After the Fijians responded with seven unanswered, Rooney and Padovano combined for back-to-back buckets, extending the Fordham lead back to five, 21-16, with five minutes left in the third.
Fiji held tough over the next several minutes, knotting the game at 23 after Valerie Nianmi, a two-time NEC Player of the Year under Coach Gaitley at LIU, converted on an and-one.
With the game tied, the Rams ignited. Alina Gjerkes started off the run with a slashing layup before Corning nailed a three pointer from the left corner. Gjerkes then sank another shot before Clark and Rooney combined for the squad's next seven points, capping a 14-0 run and building a lead that would prove insurmountable.
The Rams were not done, scoring 14 of the game's last 16 points in the closing minutes to take the 55-36 advantage with which they would end the contest.
With the basketball portion of their foreign tour in the rearview mirror, the Rams will enjoy three more days in Fiji, taking off for the states on Tuesday night.
Be sure to follow the foreign tour blog to stay up-to-date on the Rams as they finish their journey at fordhamforeigntour.blogspot.com.
