Rocky Second Half Dooms Women's Basketball at Saint Louis, 54-50

ST. LOUIS -- The Fordham women's basketball team could not overcome poor shooting and an uncharacteristic defensive effort in the second half Saturday, as the Rams saw their season-high six game win streak snapped, 54-50, by Saint Louis in Atlantic 10 action inside Chaifetz Arena. With the loss, Fordham falls to 14-6 (6-1 A10) on the season, while the Billikens improve to 10-10 (3-4 A10) overall.

In a tale of two halves, the Rams played well over the opening 20 minutes in front of a hostile crowd, which turned out to be the home attendance record for Saint Louis. Fordham scored the first seven points of the game and eventually stretched its lead out to 20-9 when sophomore Danielle Burns scored two of her nine first-half points at the 4:43 mark.

After the Billikens responded with six unanswered points, the Rams regrouped with five in a row courtesy of a deep three-pointer from sophomore Hannah Missry and a jumper from Burns to stretch the lead to 25-15 with 2:16 left in the first half.

Graduate student Tiffany Ruffin swished a pair of free throws with 13 ticks remaining before halftime, which gave Fordham its largest lead of the game, 29-17, but a jumper for the Billikens at the buzzer would change the entire flow of the contest, as the Rams went into the break leading 29-19.

Fordham limited Saint Louis to 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the field, including 1-of-13 from distance over the opening 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Rams connected at a 37.9 percent (11-of-29) rate, made 2-of-6 from downtown, and held a commanding 27-10 advantage on the glass, which featured a 10-2 lead on the offensive end and an 11-5 edge in second-chance points. But Fordham wasted opportunities to extend the lead with 10 first half turnovers compared to six for the Billikens.

The shot to end the first half started a 15-0 run for Saint Louis, which lasted until freshman G'mrice Davis ended a 0-for-7 drought and five-turnover stretch with a layup with 12:38 to go in the game.

The Billikens answered right back and increased their lead to 38-33 over the next three minutes. Junior Samantha Clark then made a pair from the charity stripe on the next Rams' possession, before senior Emily Tapio drilled a jumper from the lane to cut the lead back to one at 38-37 with 7:27 left.

Less than two minutes later, Tapio knotted the game at 40-40, but Saint Louis quickly regained the lead on a pair of free throws during its next possession. The Rams would force two more ties, with the last one coming at 44-44 when Ruffin connected on a jumper with 3:52 remaining.

The Billikens then went for the knockout punch and scored seven in a row to take a 51-44 lead with 1:19 to go.

However, Fordham had a sense of urgency and quickly chipped away starting with a Burns' jumper with 1:07 left.  After Saint Louis missed the front end of a one-and-one, Missry made it 51-48 with a bucket. The Rams then forced a turnover by drawing a foul when the Billikens were trying to inbound the ball against the press. Fordham capitalized when Ruffin hit a layup to make it 51-50 with 35 seconds to go.

The Rams were whistled for a foul with 27 ticks left, and Saint Louis missed another front end of a one-and-one. Ruffin grabbed the rebound, and Fordham called timeout with 22 seconds remaining and a chance to retake the lead.

Out of the timeout, Clark missed a three-pointer from the left wing, the Billikens corralled the rebound, and Tapio fouled Jenny Vliet. She promptly missed her first free throw but converted the second with 11 ticks left to put Saint Louis in front 52-50.

The Rams then came down the court with a chance to tie or take the lead with a three. Ruffin was able to manufacture a shot in heavy traffic that missed with five seconds to go. The Billikens' Sadie Stipanovich grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made both of her free throws with three ticks remaining on the block to seal the 54-50 victory.

Fordham finished the second half shooting 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) and missed all five of its three-point chances, while Saint Louis shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27). The Rams finished the game at 34.5 percent (20-of-58) but only 2-of-11 from distance. Saint Louis shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) and just 1-of-15 from long range.

The visitors also turned the ball over 19 times, with 11 coming on steals, while the Billikens gave it up on only 11 occasions. Fordham did win the rebounding battle, 43-29, and 15-7 on the offensive end, but it could not take advantage of the second-chance opportunities.

Ruffin nearly collected her second consecutive double-double with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists. Burns tied her career high with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and also grabbed four boards. Tapio chipped in six points, nine rebounds, two steals and a game-high six assists to tie a season high.

Stipanovich tallied 14 of her game-high 18 points after halftime and rejected a game-high three shots to lead Saint Louis. Vliet added 12 points and a game-high 10 boards for the Billikens.

The Rams return to action this Wednesday, Jan. 28 when they travel to Davidson, N.C. to take on Davidson in a conference matchup, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.