Women's Basketball Looks to Bounce Back at Temple Sunday

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PHILADELPHIA -- The Fordham women's basketball team (4-4) looks to end its mini-skid Sunday afternoon when the Rams play former Atlantic 10 rival Temple (3-4) in a road contest inside McGonigle Hall at 2 p.m. A webcast will take place on OwlSports.com, while an audio broadcast will take place on WFUVSports.org.

Last Time Out
A poor shooting performance led to the Fordham women's basketball team's 56-43 loss to Seton Hall inside the Rose Hill Gym Friday night.

The night started out well for Fordham when it scored the first eight points of the contest while holding Seton Hall scoreless over the first six minutes. The Rams eventually increased their lead to 15-6 when graduate student Tiffany Ruffin knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 11:29 mark of the first half.

But a cold streak for Fordham would follow after, and Seton Hall took advantage by scoring 11 unanswered points over the next six minutes to go in front 20-15. Senior Emily Tapio's layup snapped the cold spell for the Rams and sliced the deficit to three. However, the Pirates scored 11 of the final 15 points of the first half to end the stanza on a 25-6 run to lead at the break, 31-21.

Fordham connected on only 25 percent (9-of-36) of its shots over the first 20 minutes, including just 1-of-12 from distance, while Seton Hall connected at a 40.6 percent (13-of-32) clip and made 3-of-7 from distance. The Rams also turned the ball over seven times, while the Pirates gave it up only twice and outscored Fordham, 9-0, on points off turnovers.

Tapio scored on the Rams first possession of the second half, before Seton Hall responded with eight more unanswered points to take its largest lead of the game, 39-23, with 16:50 to go. But Fordham fought back by responding with nine in a row, as freshman G'mrice Davis' layup cut the lead to 39-32 with 12:17 remaining in the contest.

Defense allowed the Rams to stick around over the next eight minutes, and things started to brighten up when sophomore Hannah Missry knocked down a three from the left wing to make it a four-point game at 47-43 with exactly four minutes to go. But the Pirates would take advantage of an offensive rebound on their next possession and capitalize with a bucket to start a game-ending 9-0 run.

Fordham shot better in the second half (33.3 percent) but finished the game at only 28.8 percent (19-of-66) and converted just 2-of-20 from behind the arc.  The Rams held Seton Hall to 29.6 percent over the final 20 minutes and 35.6 percent (21-of-59) for the contest, including 3-of-13 from deep, while holding the Pirates to 20 points under their season average.

Turnovers also played a crucial role, as Fordham turned it over 19 times compared to just six giveaways for Seton Hall. The Rams also crushed the Pirates on the glass with a season-high 53 rebounds to 36, including 20 on the offensive boards.

Tapio paced Fordham with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, grabbed six rebounds and recorded a team-best two steals. Ruffin added a career-high 10 rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists, while Davis provided six points and nine rebounds.

Temple
2014 Season: 3-4
When: Sunday, Dec. 7 - 2 p.m.
Where: Philadelphia, Pa. (McGonigle Hall)
Series History: Temple leads 23-6 (since Jan. 27, 1996)
Last Meeting: March 10, 2013 - Fordham 66 Temple 55 (Atlantic 10 Tournament in Philadelphia)
What You Need To Know: The Owls have lost three of their last four after starting the season 2-1 with wins over La Salle (75-72) and Georgetown (81-58) and a narrow loss to Saint Joseph's in overtime (78-74). Temple is coming off an 11-point home loss to Delaware, who Fordham defeated on the road, 49-44, Nov. 25. For the season, sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald leads the Owls with 14.4 points per game, while freshman Alliya Butts is averaging 12.7 points per game with a team-best 16 steals. Rookie Tanaya Atkinson averages 11.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while senior Tyonna Williams contributes 10.1 points per game. Sophomore Safiya Martin leads Temple on the glass with 8.1 rebounds per game, while junior Erica Covile adds 7.7 boards a contest.

Up Next
The Rams continue their road swing Tuesday, Dec. 9 when they take on Central Connecticut at 7 p.m. in New Britain, Conn., before returning home next Sunday, Dec. 14 to host Manhattan at 2 p.m.