Rams Win A-10 Championship

Box Score  | Photo Gallery

In her 28 seasons on the bench, Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley has made a living off stellar defense.  Over three days in Richmond, her Fordham Rams brought the term "lockdown" to a new level, setting an A-10 Championship record by allowing just 41.3 points per game and clinching Fordham's second NCAA berth in program history.

Three Rams recorded double-doubles on Sunday morning, as the Rams downed Dayton 63-51, holding the league-leading Flyers' offense to 32 points below their season average.  Fordham also held Dayton scoreless for the final 5:27 of the game.

Redshirt senior guard Erin Rooney led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while fellow captain Abigail Corning registered 12 points and ten boards.  Emily Tapio, who finished the season on the hottest of streaks, recorded her fifth double-double in the last eight games, tallying ten points and 12 rebounds.

Corning and Rooney were both named to the All-Championship Team, while Corning was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Mary Nwachukwu scored eight points on a critical Fordham run in the second half, while Samantha Clark finished the game with ten points, five rebounds and two steals.

Dayton got on the board early and often in the opening minutes, outscoring the Rams 8-2 by the 16 minute mark and grabbing a 10-4 lead at the game's first media timeout.
 
Down by six, the Rams uncorked an 7-2, pulling within one, 12-11, on a Clark three-pointer with 12 minutes left in the half. 
 
Leading by one, 14-13, two minutes later, Dayton scored five unanswered to move ahead by six near the midway mark of the period. 
 
Consecutive and-ones from Rooney and Andrea Hoover kept the Dayton advantage at a half-dozen, but Corning and Missry soon connected from downtown on back-to-back possessions for Fordham, knotting the score at 24 and forcing a Dayton timeout with 4:27 left until the break.
 
Fordham and Dayton traded three-point plays over the next few possessions before Corning stole the ball near midcourt and nailed a fast break jumper to give the Rams their first lead of the game at 29-27 with three minutes remaining in the half.
 
The Flyers scored the half's final three points, taking a 30-29 lead into the locker room. 

Corning led the Rams at the break with nine points and three assists, while Rooney added five points and six boards.  Clark also chipped in five points, while Tapio added five rebounds.
 
Both teams came out firing to start the second half, as the scoreboard read 38 at the first media timeout of the half.
 
After Hoover made a three pointer to put the Flyers up 41-38 five minutes into the half, the Rams exploded.  Over the next four minutes, Fordham outscored Dayton 13-4, jumping ahead by six on a Danielle Burns layup with 10:52 to go.  Nwachukwu scored eight points on that tear for the Rams.
 
Dayton cut the lead to four with an Ally Malott jumper just inside the ten minute mark, but the responded in kind.  Corning converted three the old-fashioned way and Clark made a tough shot on the inside, putting the Rams ahead by nine, 56-47, with just over seven minutes to play.
 
With their largest lead of the game, the Rams suddenly went cold from the floor, not scoring for over four minutes.  The Fordham defense, however, held tight, limiting Dayton to just four points and maintaining the Rams' advantage at five, 56-51, at the final timeout with just over three minutes to play.  

The Rams continued to hold the Flyers off the board in the closing minutes, securing Coach Gaitley's third Atlantic 10 title and her eighth NCAA Tournament appearance.

The NCAA selection show will be held on March 17th.