Women's Basketball to Host Saint Joseph's in Nationally-Televised Contest

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (11-5, 3-0 A10) returns to the Rose Hill Gym Thursday evening to start a three-game conference homestand beginning with Saint Joseph's (5-10, 1-2 A10). Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. There will also be an audio broadcast on WFUVSports.org.

Last Time Out
The Fordham women's basketball team pushed it win streak to three games Sunday (1/11) when it defeated St. Bonaventure, 72-62, in Atlantic 10 action inside the Reilly Center. Fordham also collected its first victory at Saint Bonaventure in nine seasons while ending the Bonnies 15-game home court win streak.

The Rams led by four points on three different occasions over the first eight minutes, before the Bonnies rattled off eight in a row to take their largest lead of the game, 15-11, at the 10:40 mark. But Fordham started a streak of nine straight when freshman Asnate Fomina buried a trey ball, and fellow classmate G'mrice Davis capped the spurt with an old-fashion three-point play for a 20-15 advantage with 8:04 left in the first half.

Still leading by five, the Rams saw the home team score six in a row to retake the lead at 27-26 with a shade under three minutes to go before halftime. However, sophomore Danielle Burns scored on a layup, which would give Fordham the lead for good, and started a half-ending 13-2 run, as sophomore Hannah Missry beat the buzzer with a tough left-handed layup to give the Rams a 39-29 lead at the break.

Fordham carried over its hot shooting from the La Salle game and connected at a 53.8 percent (14-of-26) clip and knocked down 5-of-8 from three-point range over the opening 20 minutes. St. Bonaventure converted 40 percent (10-of-25) of its shots, including 3-of-6 from distance.

Senior Emily Tapio hit a mid-range jump shot out of halftime to give the Rams their largest lead of the game (41-29), before the Bonnies raced back with eight consecutive points to trim the deficit to 41-37 with 16:31 remaining.

Back-to-back buckets from junior Samantha Clark and Fomina extended the lead back out to eight, but the home team fought back even harder and used a 10-1 run to slice the Fordham lead to 47-46 with 9:33 left in the contest.     

The Rams were up to the home team's fight and quickly increased their lead back to eight when Missry knocked down a three to make it 56-48 at the 7:51 mark.
The Bonnies hung around and once again got the lead to within four at 58-54, but sophomore Danielle Padovano, who had her career game, scored the next five points and delivered the dagger with her career-high fourth triple of the day to put Fordham in front, 63-54, with 4:55 to go. The Rams would go on to cruise to the 72-62 victory.

Fordham cooled off from the field in the second half (31 percent) but connected on 12-of-15 free throws over the final 20 minutes. The Rams finished the contest shooting 41.9 percent (23-of-55) and nailed 8-of-15 from behind the arc. More importantly, they swished 18-of-23 free throws. The defense held the Bonnies to 40.4 percent (23-of-57) shooting and just 4-of-13 from long range while forcing 15 turnovers.

For the 12th time this season, Fordham won the battle on the glass, 37-33. St. Bonaventure was able to keep itself in the game by forcing 17 Ram turnovers and used a 21-10 advantage on points off turnovers.

Clark paced the offense with 17 points on a stellar 8-of10 shooting from the field. She just missed her second straight double-double with nine rebounds to go along with three assists. Padovano added a career-high 14 points off the bench and missed only two of her six three-point attempts. Graduate student Tiffany Ruffin added eight points, nine boards and a game-high six assists, while Tapio netted eight points, corralled seven rebounds and handed out three assists.

Fordham also tied a season high in assists with 19, as the Rams failed to record an assist on only four of their baskets.

Saint Joseph's
2014-15 Season: 5-10 (1-2 A10)
When: Thursday, Jan. 15 - 7 p.m.
Where: Bronx, N.Y. (Rose Hill Gym)
Series History: Saint Joseph's leads 35-5 (since March 3, 1972)
Last Meeting: March 2, 2014 - Fordham 58 Saint Joseph's 53 (in Philadelphia, Pa.)
What You Need To Know: The Hawks, who are picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 this season, have started conference play 1-2. After opening Atlantic 10 play with a 63-46 home victory over VCU, Saint Joseph's has dropped its last two: 83-69 at George Washington, 65-47 versus Massachusetts. The Hawks have played a tough schedule that shows they are better than their 5-10 start, which includes games at Rutgers, Seton Hall and Notre Dame along with home games against Temple and Villanova. Both Saint Joseph's and Fordham have played Temple and Seton Hall this season, with both defeating the Owls and falling to the Pirates by double-digits. The Hawks, who have yet to collect a true road victory (0-7), feature four players averaging double figures in scoring. Ciara Andrews leads the way with 13.5 points per game, while Natasha Cloud adds 13.1 points points per game and team highs in rebounds per game (6.2), assists per game (6.2), which leads the Atlantic 10, and steals per game (2.1). Sarah Fairbanks chips in 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, but she has not played in the last two games. Kathlee Fitzpatrick rounds out the double-digit scoring with 10.1 points per game and is the team's top three-point threat (37-of-11, .327).

Up Next
The Rams continue their homestand when they welomce VCU inside the Rose Hill Gym this Sunday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m., which will be Alumni Day for women's basketball. Fordham then hosts Massachusetts for Kids Day at 12 p.m. next Wednesday, Jan. 21.