Rams Down Bonnies, Advance to A-10 Championship

Box Score  | Photo Gallery

The Fordham Rams put on one of the most impressive defensive performances in Atlantic 10 Championship history, holding St. Bonventure to a tournament record 32 points and advancing to the conference finals for the second straight season with a 73-32 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams will face off against Dayton tomorrow morning at 11AM on ESPNU in the conference title game.


32 points tied the season-low for the Rams, matching their surrendered point total against Illinois State on December 15th.  Their four points allowed in the first half was one off the NCAA records for fewest points allowed in a half.

The Rams were lights out, shooting 57.7 percent from the floor and a season-high 59.1 percent from three-point range.

On the defensive side, the Rams held the Bonnies to just 9-54 from the floor and 2-13 from three, good enough for 16.7 and 15.4 percent, respectively.  The Rams also set A-10 Championship records for field goal percentage defense in a game and fewest number of field goals allowed in a single game.

Hannah Missry led the Rams with 18 points on 6-9 shooting from beyond the arc, including a 4-4 start.  

Erin Rooney was the only other Ram in double figures, finishing the game with ten points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Abigail Corning had nine points for the Rams, converting on three of her four attempts from downtown.

Against Duquesne on Friday, Missry failed to score for only the third time this season.  Today against the Bonnies, the freshman connected on three triples in the span of just over three minutes, pacing the Rams as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the early going.
 
Fordham held the Bonnies scoreless for the opening five minutes and 20 seconds of the game before Katie Healy got St. Bonaventure on the board. 
 
The Rams offense continued to click and their defense dominated over the next several minutes, extending their lead to 17, 19-2, with 12:55 on the clock.  Missry connected on her fourth three-pointer of the game during that stretch. 
 
After four minutes went by with neither squad finding the bottom of the bucket, a Mary Nwachukwu jumper bumped the Rams' advantage to 21-2.
 
St. Bonaventure continued to struggle from the field, as they failed to connect on a shot and the Rams jumped ahead 27-2 at the final media timeout of the first half.
 
The Rams built the lead to as many as 31 in the first half before Chelsea Bowker ended over 14 scoreless minutes for the Bonnies to make it 33-4 with 1:20 to go.
 
Danielle Burns sank a layup and Danielle Padovano nailed a three before the half ended, giving Fordham a 34-point lead at the half.
 
The Rams held the Bonnies to just 2-25 from the field in the first half, while shooting 60 percent themselves.  Their four points allowed was just off an NCAA record of three.
 
Fordham did not take the pedal off the floor in the early going, connecting on four of six attempts from three to move ahead by as many as 48, 56-8, at the 11:25 mark of the period.
 
The Rams would bump their lead to as high as 49 with just over five minutes to go, and closed out the contest with a 73-32 victory.