Rams Down Saint Joe's in Regular Season Finale

Box Score

In a critical final game of the regular season, the Rams erased a nine-point second half deficit, storming back and securing the three seed in the A-10 Championship with a 58-53 win over Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia.
 
Abigail Corning tallied her third double-double of the season, leading the Rams with 15 points and 13 rebounds. 
 
Erin Rooney finished the game with 15 points, eight boards and five assists, recording her 1,000th career point in a Fordham uniform during the win.  The Chrischurch, New Zealand, native has nearly 1,600 points including her two years at Monmouth.
 
Emily Tapio scored nine of her 13 points during a crucial run in the second half, helping the Rams take back the lead.
 
Samantha Clark finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Saint Joe's scored the game's first points on the opening possession of the contest, but the Rams quickly responded with an 8-0 run to grab the early lead. 
 
The Hawks battled back from the early deficit, trimming the Fordham advantage to one, 13-12, on a Ciara Andrews bucket six minutes into the game. 
 
Both offenses continued to click in the high-scoring first half and the Hawks grabbed their first lead since the opening possession, 22-20, on an Andrews' and-one near the midway point of the period.
 
The frenetic pace of the game began to slow, as the teams combined for only 16 points over the remainder of the half.  Although the Rams usually excel in low scoring situations, the Hawks held onto their lead over the latter half of the period, taking a 32-26 advantage into the locker room.
 
Rooney led the Rams in the first half with eight points, four boards and three assists.  Corning also had a great opening stanza for Fordham, tallying seven points and eight rebounds.
 
Saint Joe's built its lead to eight in the opening minutes of the second half, as Erin Shields connected on a jumper to push the Hawks ahead 36-28 80 seconds into the latter stanza.
 
After her team trailed by as many as nine, Corning cut the lead back to five at the 13:50 mark with a driving layup and Danielle Burns knocked the Saint Joe's advantage down to the three, 40-37, a minute later.
 
The Rams continued to hold Saint Joe's scoreless and another Corning bucket brought them within one, 40-39, with 11:30 to go.  A minute later, Rooney connected on two free throws, capping a 10-0 run and giving the Rams their first lead since midway through the opening half.
 
The two teams traded leads over the next few possessions before the Rams jumped ahead by three, 45-42, on a Tapio basket with just under eight minutes left on the clock.
 
Two minutes later, the Hawks tied the game at 45 on an Andrews three-ball, but Tapio answered right back with a fade away jumper to put the Rams up 47-45.
 
After a made free throw, Tapio scored her seventh straight point for the Rams on a foul line jumper, giving Fordham a five point lead with four and a half minutes to go.  The Brewster, N.Y., native then connected again less than a minute later, making it nine straight and bumping the Fordham lead to seven, 52-45, with 3:39 on the clock.
 
Shields cut the lead down to four with a triple less than a minute later, but Rooney responded right back with a three of her own, bumping the Fordham advantage back to seven, 55-48, with just over two minutes left in the game.
 
Following a Corning free throw, Shields nailed another three to pull the Hawks within five, 56-51, with just under one minute remaining.
 
Gotfrida made a tough shot inside to make it a one-possession game with 28 seconds to go, but three points would be as close as Saint Joe's got, as the Rams came out on top 58-53 following free throws from Missry and Corning.
 
The win secured the Rams an opening-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Championship.  The Rams will commence play in the tournament with a game on Friday night at 7:30 PM against the winner of the Duquesne-Rhode Island match up.