DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Senior
Emily Tapio poured in a career-high 23 points Wednesday night to lead the Fordham women's basketball team to a 66-45 victory over Davidson inside Belk Arena in Atlantic 10 action. With the win, the Rams improve to 15-6 (7-1 A10) on the season, while the Wildcats fall to 5-16 (1-7 A10) overall.
Tapio also set a new career high with 10 field goals (on 16 attempts) and scored 15 points in the first half. She took over with the score tied at 17 and scored Fordham's next nine points while outscoring Davidson, 9-1, as her old-fashion three-point play gave the Rams a 26-18 lead with 4:57 left in the opening half.
After recording the assist on junior
Samantha Clark's three-pointer, which increased the lead to 29-20, Tapio scored the final six points of the half, including her bucket at the buzzer that put in the Rams in front 35-24.
The Wildcats clawed their way back during the first four minutes of the second half and cut the deficit to eight, before six unanswered points from the Rams pushed their advantage to 47-33 with 12:14 remaining in the contest.
Davidson trimmed the Fordham lead back to single digits one more time at 49-40 with 8:42 to go, but Tapio scored a layup to start an 8-1 spurt that finished as a game-ending 17-5 run.
Fordham finished the game shooting 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field, including 7-of-19 from three-point range. The Rams also knocked down 11-of-13 from the free throw line and held a commanding 43-28 advantage on the glass. The defense limited the Wildcats to 34.0 percent (18-of-53) and just 2-of-11 from downtown
Sophomore
Hannah Missry added 14 points and knocked down 4-of-7 from behind the arc, while graduate student
Tiffany Ruffin tied a career high with 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, four assists and a game-high three steals. Clark chipped in eight points and eight boards, and Tapio also had six rebounds and four assists.
Mackenzie Latt paced Davidson with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Hannah Early added eleven points, four below her scoring average.
Fordham returns to action this Saturday, Jan. 31 when it returns to the Rose Hill Gym to host Duquesne, with tipoff slated for 2 p.m.
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