Women's Basketball to Duel Duquesne Saturday Afternoon Inside the Rose Hill Gym

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (15-6, 7-1 A10) looks to build on its best Atlantic 10 start through eight games when it returns to the Rose Hill Gym Saturday afternoon to host fourth-place Duquesne (13-8, 5-3 A10), with tipoff slated for 2 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on the Atlantic 10 Network, while an audio broadcast will also take place on WFUVSports.org.

Last Time Out
Senior Emily Tapio poured in a career-high 23 points Wednesday night (1/28) to lead the Fordham women's basketball team to a 66-45 victory over Davidson inside Belk Arena in Atlantic 10 action.

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.

Duquesne
2014-15 Season: 13-8 (5-3 A10)
When: Saturday, Jan. 31 - 2 p.m.
Where: Bronx, N.Y. (Rose Hill Gym)
Series History: Duquesne leads 18-5 (since Jan. 11, 1996)
Last Meeting: March, 7, 2014 - Fordham 45 Duquesne 41 (Atlantic 10 quarterfinals in Richmond, Va.)
What You Need To Know: The Dukes, who were picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10, currently sit in a tie for fourth place and have won two straight and four of their last five league games. They are 4-0 at home in conference play, which includes wins over George Mason (88-54), Saint Louis (77-64), Saint Joseph's (63-54) and Davidson (83-47). However, the Dukes are just 1-3 on the road after picking up a 76-63 victory at St. Bonaventure last time out. Other road losses include Rhode Island (62-61), Dayton (78-67) and George Washington (83-56). The Dukes have one of the top offenses in the conference and average the second-most points per game (74.5), shoot the second-best three-point field goal percentage (.361) and the third-best field goal percentage (.415). They also have the second-highest rebounding margin (+7.2), dish out the third most assists per game (16.0), grab the second-most offensive rebounds per game (17.0) and make the third-most three-pointers per game (5.8). April Robinson leads the way with team highs of 15.4 points and 5.0 assists per game and paces the Dukes in three-point shooting at 41.6 percent (62-of-149) to go along with the second-most steals (35). Deva'Nya Workman adds 11.6 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game, while Amadea Szamosi chips in 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and shoots a team-best 53 percent (87-of-164) from the field. Jose-Ann Johnson leads the squad with 36 blocks while recording 9.5 points and 6.2 boards per game.

Up Next
The Rams welcome St. Bonaventure inside the Rose Hill Gym this Thursday, Feb. 5 for a televised contest on SNY at 7 p.m.