Women's Basketball Downs UMass

Box Score  | Photo Gallery

It had been two whole weeks since the Rams laced them up for a game in the Rose Hill Gym and Coach Gaitley's squad could not have been happier to be home.  The Rams turned in their highest scoring performance of the conference season on Saturday, downing UMass 80-54.
 
Erin Rooney led the Rams (16-4, 5-2 A-10) with another spectacular performance, registering 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.  The Christchurch, New Zealand, native only surrendered one turnover on the afternoon, grabbed three steals and shot well over 50 percent from the field.
 
Abigail Corning also had quite the afternoon for the Rams, scoring 18 points on 6-11 shooting while grabbing five boards and dishing out three assists.
 
Freshman Hannah Missry continued her hot shooting hand against the Minutewomen, nailing five of her six attempts from the floor and finishing with 14 points.  The Jackson, N.J., native also collected five rebounds.
 
Mary Nwachukwu finished the afternoon with eight points and five rebounds for the Rams, while Emily Tapio tallied five points, five assists and five rebounds.
 
Freshman Danielle Burns also had a solid game, scoring five points and grabbing six boards.
 
Fordham got on the board first in the early going, as Rooney notched the game's opening bucket and the Rams slowly built their lead to five, 7-2, on a Tapio layup near the 15 minute mark.  Over the next three and a half minutes, UMass (3-18, 0-7) would erase the deficit, tying the game at 11 on an Emily Mital three-pointer.
 
The Minutewomen would grab the lead, 13-11, a minute later, but Rooney responded with a three-point play on the next possession to put the Rams back ahead by one.  The two teams went back and forth for several possessions before the Rams rattled off seven in a row, putting them ahead by eight, 25-17, with just over seven minutes to go in the half.
 
With her team up six and five and a half minutes on the clock, Corning took a pass from Rooney just beyond the three-point line on the right side.  She drained the shot and absorbed the contact for the rare four-point play, giving the Rams their first double-digit lead of the game.  Corning's play kicked off a 9-0 Rams run, extending the advantage to 15, 36-21, by the final media timeout of the half.
 
Building their lead to 19, the Rams entered the intermission with a 44-25 lead.
 
Rooney was unstoppable in the first half for the Rams, registering 16 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
 
The Rams showed no signs of letting up coming out of the locker room.  Fordham opened up the latter stanza on an 8-0 run, bumping their lead to 27, 52-25, just over two minutes into the period.  The Rams would outscore UMass 17-5 by 15 minute mark of the half.
 
Fordham continued to build its lead over the next few minutes, jumping ahead by 33, 69-36, on a Corning layup with just over 12 minutes to go.
 
With the game appearing out of reach, the Fordham starters went to the bench and UMass eventually pulled back within 26, the deficit with which they would end the game.
 
The Rams will be back in action this coming Wednesday, hosting Rhode Island for Field Trip Day at 12 noon.