Box Score
The Rams overcame a 13-point second half deficit to force extra time, but their gritty effort ultimately fell short. Janelle Hubbard sank a baseline jumper with eight seconds to go in the second overtime, leading the Spiders to a 78-77 victory in the Robins Center.
Erin Rooney scored 17 of her team-high 22 points in the second half and overtime to pace Fordham, while
Emily Tapio recorded her first career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Brewster, N.Y., native also dished out six assists, setting a career-high in rebounds and tying career-highs in points and assists.
Samantha Clark had her best shooting performance of the year, draining five of her seven attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points.
Mary Nwachukwu added eight points, all of which came in the two overtimes.
Abigail Corning chipped in seven points and seven assists.
Hubbard and Kristina King each scored 29 points for Richmond (11-13, 5-6 A-10) in the win.
The Rams (19-6, 8-3) jumped out to an early lead on Tuesday, as Clark scored five of the team's first seven points and the Rams grabbed a 7-2 lead three minutes into the action.
Fordham continued to impress over the next several minutes, extending their lead to eight, 18-10, when Clark converted on her second three-pointer of the day just inside the eight minute mark. Tapio was a beacon of efficiency in the opening stanza, either assisting on or scoring Fordham's first six field goals. She also grabbed five rebounds during that time.
Down by seven with five minutes to go, Richmond uncorked seven unanswered over the next 50 seconds, tying the game at 20 on a Hubbard three-pointer with 4:08 on the clock. The Spiders' run would reach as high as 13-0 before Fordham got back on the board, when Tapio's eighth point of the half made it 26-22 with 1:41 to go. Even with Fordham finding the bottom of the bucket, the Spiders continued to score, building their lead to ten at the half, closing the period on a 21-4 tear.
At the half, Tapio and Clark led the Rams with eight apiece. They each had five rebounds, while Tapio added four assists.
The Spiders continued to exhibit a hot hand on the other side of the intermission, converting on four of their first six field goal attempts to maintain a ten point advantage, 43-33, at the first media timeout of the half.
Richmond built its lead to as many as 13, 46-33, five minutes into the half, but Coach Gaitley's squad quickly responded. The Rams uncorked an 11-2 run over the next three minutes, cutting the deficit to four, 48-44, on a Rooney triple with 12 minutes to go in the half.
Neither team scored for the next three minutes, but a Missry free throw narrowed the lead to three with just under nine to go. The freshman then cut the deficit to one, 48-47, with another pair of free throws two minutes later.
Ahead by one, the Spiders bumped the lead back to five, 52-47, with just over five minutes to go on four points from Genevieve Okoro. The Rams, however, responded with five of their own, as Clark nailed a three and Rooney sank a pair of free throws to tie the contest at 52.
Missry put the Rams ahead for the first time in the half with a triple from the left side on their next offensive possession, but Kristina King responded with three the old fashioned way for the Spiders to knot the score once again at 55 with just under three minutes to go.
Okoro moved the Spiders back ahead on their next offensive possession, 57-55, before Rooney cut the lead to one with a 1-2 trip to the line with just under two minutes to go.
Forty seconds later, Tapio put her shoulder down and buried a bucket to put the Rams back on top, 58-57, with 1:11 on the clock.
Hubbard sank a pair of free throws on the next possession to put Richmond ahead by one, but Tapio came up big again, sinking the hoop and drawing the foul to put Fordham ahead by two, 61-59, with just 21 seconds on the clock.
On Richmond's final offensive possession, King drove and put up a circus shot, drawing the foul and making the basket. King, one of the best free throw shooters in the A-10, uncharacteristically missed the free throw, allowing the game to head into overtime.
The Rams struck first in the extra period on a
Mary Nwachukwu layup before Richmond scored four in a row to move ahead 66-63. From there, Rooney took over. She scored the Rams' next six points, allowing Fordham to grab a 69-68 lead with one minute to go. Fordham would extend that lead to three, 71-68, on a pair of Tapio free throws 30 seconds later, but King sank a three to knot the score at 71 with 16 seconds left on the clock. The Rams had a wide open shot to win the game at the buzzer, but Nwachukwu's 15-footer narrowly missed, sending the game into double OT.
Fordham led by one with less than ten seconds to go in the second overtime, but Hubbard's baseline jumper sealed the game.
Fordham will next be in action this coming Saturday, hosting La Salle on Senior Day. Tip off is at 2 PM.
