"Battle of the Bronx" at Manhattan Next for Women's Basketball

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (0-1) looks to claim its first victory of the season Wednesday when it makes the short trip in the Bronx to Riverdale, N.Y. to take on long-time rival Manhattan (1-0) in the annual "Battle of the Bronx" contest, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. inside Draddy Gymnasium. Fans can watch the game online on the Jasper Sports Network for a fee or listen for free online on WFUV.

SCOUTING MANHATTAN: The Jaspers opened their season Saturday with an 85-78 victory at Fairleigh Dickinson. Sophomore Kayla Grimme was named the MAAC player of the week after providing a double-double line of 11 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks, as Manhattan finished with a program-record 13 rejections. Fellow classmate Amani Tatum, who sat out last season after transferring from James Madison, netted a team-best 18 points, all in the second half, to help lead the Jasper comeback. Two more sophomores, Nyasha Irizarry and Taylor Williams, added 16 points and 14 points, respectively, while senior Crystal Ross just missed double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 boards to go along with four assists and four blocks. Manhattan, who finished 3-27 (2-18 MAAC) last season, was selected to finish in seventh place in the 11-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's edition will be the 26th meeting in the all-time series, which dates back to Feb. 7, 1980, with the Japers clinging to a 24-22 advantage. The two programs have met at least once every year since, and the Rams have won four straight, all by double-digits, including a 70-41 thumping inside the Rose Hill Gym last season (Dec. 14, 2014).

LAST TIME OUT: The Rams were defeated by Penn State, 75-59, Sunday inside the Bryce Jordan Center in their 2015-16 season opener. Three Rams reached double-figures in scoring, with sophomore G'mrice Davis pacing Fordham with team highs of 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior Samantha Clark added 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while junior Danielle Burns chipped in 10 points, a career-high eight rebounds and a career-best two blocks. Sophomore Asnate Fomina dished out a career-high five assists for the Rams.Davis tallied the first four points for Fordham, who led 6-0 early on, after shutting out Penn State over the first five minutes and 29 seconds of the first quarter. But the Lady Lions would score 10 of the final 12 points of the stanza to lead 10-8 after the first 10 minutes. The Rams continued their cold streak in the second quarter, which allowed Penn State to use a 25-4 run to increase its lead out to 25-10 with 4:37 to go before halftime. Fordham was able to creep back before the break, as the Rams entered the locker room down 31-20. Fordham constructed its best scoring quarter in the third, but the Rams only outscored the Lady Lions by two at 22-20 to trail 51-42 heading into the final 10 minutes, after Burns drilled a left-corner three-pointer at the third-quarter horn. Twice in the final quarter, Fordham crept back to within five. Junior Danielle Padovano swished a trey ball from the right wing at the 4:38 mark to trim the deficit to 57-52. Penn State quickly went back in front by 10 to stop the Ram rally. Fordham was not finished, and Missry, this time, drained a three-pointer to once again make it a five-point contest at 62-57 with 2:42 remaining. However, it was the closest the Rams would come, as Penn State scored the next four en route to finishing the game on a 13-2 run for the 75-59 victory.Fordham shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, including 40 percent in the second half. The Rams did not make a single bucket from long distance over the first 20 minutes but sank 5-of-11 in the second half to finish at 26.3 percent (5-of-19). Penn State shot 42 percent (29-of-69) and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from behind the arc. One of the biggest differences in the game was turnovers, as the Rams gave the ball up 17 times compared to the Lady Lions' eight miscues, which resulted in a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers. Penn State also outscored Fordham, 16-2, on the fast break, and 38-26 in the paint. The Lady Lions also edged the Rams on the glass, 41-40.

DID YOU KNOW: That the Fordham senior class of 2015 won all four of its "Battle of the Bronx" contests by an average of 20.25 points per game.

1,000 POINT WATCH: After scoring 14 points at Penn State, senior Samantha Clark needs 111 points to become the 18th player in program history to achieve 1,000 points in their career.

YEAR 30: Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley is in her 30th season as a head coach. She is two wins away from achieving 550 in her career.

SEASON OPENERS: After the loss at Penn State, the Rams' record in season openers dropped to 21-25 overall in now the program's 46th season. The Rams last won a season opener two years ago when they defeated San Francisco, 80-66, inside the Rose Hill Gym. They are now 2-3 in openers under head coach Stephanie Gaitley and 21-24 overall in 45 seasons

SITTING OUT: Fordham has 16 members on its roster this season, but only 12 will see action, as four student-athletes will not suit up. Senior Khadijah Gibson and freshman Kate Kreslina are out for the year with an injury, while junior Tiffany Suarez and sophomore Nicole Floyd transfered in from Virginia and Wake Forest, respectively, and must sit out because of NCAA transfer rules.

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Junior Danielle Burns and sophomore Asnate Fomina have teammed up with old friends this year and beyond. Burns is joined by former high school teammate Nicole Floyd, as the duo played at Stonewall Jackson high school in northern Virginia, while Kate Kreslina played with Fomina in Riga, Latvia.

POSTSEASON FOR THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON: The Rams participated in the postseason for the third straight year and in the WNIT for the second time in school history. Fordham finished 2-1 in the 2013 WNIT when they defeated both Army (55-46) and Boston University (58-44) at home, before falling at James Madison (77-61) in the round of 16 to conclude the season at 26-9. In 2014, the Rams played in their second-ever NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round to California, 64-63, in Waco, Texas. Last season marked Fordham's fourth postseason appearance (lost in 1994 NCAA Tournament to Penn State).

CLASS OF 2015: Last year's senior class cemented its mark in Rose Hill history. The 84 wins over the last four years were the third-most in program history, trailing only the Class of 1980 (91 wins) and the Class of 1979 (85 wins). This year's senior class needs 20 wins to become the all-time winningest class in program history.

20 WINS: For the third straight season, the Rams won at least 20 games to give them eight in the program's history. The last and only time a Fordham group won at least 20 games in three straight seasons was 1977-78 (25-8), 1978-79 (27-7) and 1979-80 (20-14).

ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON POLL: The Fordham women's basketball team has been selected to finish fourth in the annual Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball preseason poll, it was announced Wednesday, Oct. 28 by the league at its annual Media Day, held at the Richmond Marriott. For the second year in a row, senior Samantha Clark was selected to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team. The Neptune, N.J. native is coming off a season where she averaged 8.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. The rebounding average ranked seventh in the conference, while the rejection rate ranked 12th overall. Defending league champion George Washington garnered 12 out of 14 first-place votes to be tabbed as the preseason favorite. Right behind was 2015 runner up and Elite Eight finalist Dayton, who earned two first-place nods. Rounding out the top four was Duquesne and the Rams.Saint Louis, Richmond and Saint Joseph's were selected five-through-seven, respectively, to round out the top half, while Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure and VCU completed the top 10 in slots eight, nine and 10. Rounding out the order of finish in spots 11-14 was George Mason, La Salle, Massachusetts and Davidson.
 
SEASON TICKETS: The Fordham women's basketball team's season tickets for the 2015-2016 season are now on sale. Order yours by calling the Fordham Ticket Office at 855-RAM-TIXX (855-726-8497) or order online at FordhamSports.com. Season tickets include admission to all 15 home games at the Rose Hill Gym, and ticket holders would receive priority access to any postseason games.

UP NEXT: The Rams return to action Tuesday, Nov. 24 when they open up the home portion of their schedule against Lafayette at 6 p.m. inside the Rose Hill Gym. The contest is part of a doubleheader, which also features the Fordham men's basketball game against Colgate 30 minutes after.