Box Score
Trailing by nine with just two and a half minutes to go, Fordham unleased a spectacular comeback in the closing minutes of their matchup against VCU. The Rams of Rose Hill outscored the Rams of Richmond 15-3 down the stretch, clinching Fordham's fourth Atlantic 10 win of the year, 76-73.
In the win,
Erin Rooney accomplished something that had not been done in nearly 22 years at Fordham (15-3, 4-1 A-10). The Christchurch, New Zealand, native tallied 11 points, 11 assists, and ten rebounds, becoming the first Ram since Kelly Roche on February 1
st, 1992, to record a triple-double.
Abigail Corning scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the first half, while junior forward
Emily Tapio scored 14 of her 16 in half number two.
Hannah Missry hit two huge three pointers and sank a pair of free throws down the stretch, finishing with 17 points.
Down 70-61 with 2:22 on the clock, Corning kicked off the run with a three-pointer from the corner. One minute later, Rooney sank both ends of a one-and-one, pulling Fordham within four. With her team's lead hanging in the balance, Isis Thorpe of VCU (15-3, 3-2) made one of two from the charity stripe to move ahead by five, but Missry responded with a three off the glass, making the deficit just two points with 1:14 to go. On the following offensive possession, Missry nailed another from deep, this one nothing but net, and the Rams grabbed their first lead since the 12 minute mark, 72-71. Fordham came up with a huge stop on the ensuing VCU possession, and Rooney nailed another pair of free throws, putting the Rams up by three. Following yet another stop, Missry sank two from the line, putting the game out of reach.
At the start of the game, Shaneika Williams got VCU on the board first. But the Rams quickly responded, rattling off seven unanswered in just over one minute, taking a 7-2 advantage and forcing a VCU timeout less than two minutes into the contest. The offensive explosion continued in the early going, with Fordham holding an 18-13 lead at the first media timeout at the 14:17 mark of the half. Missry had nine points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc at that point.
Fordham built its lead to eight, 23-15, by the second media timeout of the half, but VCU answered with a 9-0 run to grab a 24-23 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the half.
The two squads continued to trade buckets and leads over the ensuing five minutes of play, and the Rams held a 33-32 lead at the final media timeout of the opening half.
With two minutes left on the clock and the score tied at 36, Corning led a huge run for the Rams heading into the half. The senior scored five of her team's points in a 7-0 run to close out the opening stanza, giving the Rams a 43-36 lead going into the locker room.
At the break, Corning led the Rams with 15 points on 6-9 shooting, while her co-captain,
Erin Rooney, had five points, six rebounds, and seven assists.
After her team closed the first half with seven unanswered, Tapio kicked off the second period with four of her own, bumping the Fordham lead to 11, 47-36, one minute in. But the game of runs continued, as VCU rattled off a 10-2 tear to pull within three, 49-46, with 14 and a half minutes remaining.
Tapio, however, had other ideas. The Brewster, N.Y., native tallied her ninth point of the half with three the old-fashioned way, giving Fordham a 52-46 lead at the 14 minute mark.
Down by six, the Rams from Richmond bounced back to take the lead. VCU scored ten in a row, grabbing a 56-52 advantage with 10:31 on the clock.
VCU continued to hit from the floor, extending their run to 19-4 and moving ahead 65-56 on a Robyn Parks jumper with seven minutes to go.
Four and a half minutes later, the miraculous run got underway, allowing the Rams to come out with the victory.
The Rams will face another tough road test on Sunday, traveling to Dayton for a 3:30 PM tilt on ESPNU.
