Photo GalleryRIVERDALE, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Manhattan, 60-49, Wednesday night inside Draddy Gymnasium in the annual "Battle of the Bronx" contest between the two local rivals. With the victory, the Rams and now won five straight in the series improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Jaspers fall to 1-1 overall.
Sophomore
G'mrice Davis collected her first double-double of her career, as she tied her career highs in both points (19) and rebounds (10) while establishing new career bests in both assists (3) and steals (5). Senior
Samantha Clark also recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and junior
Hannah Missry chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and a career-high three assists while knocking down 3-of-5 from distance.
Sophomore
Asnate Fomina and junior
Danielle Burns just missed double figures with eight points, with Fomina dishing out a career-best six assists.
Manhattan tied the contest at 41-41 to begin the fourth quarter, but Fordham took the lead for good with a 7-1 spurt, which was capped when Fomina found Davis for a layup that provided a 48-42 lead with 6:41 to go.
After the Jaspers cut the deficit to 48-46 at the 4:42 mark, a Davis bucket started a game-ending 12-3 run.
Fordham shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the field, including 6-of-18 from three-point range, but made only 10-of-18 free throws. The defense held Manhattan to 29.6 percent shooting (16-of-54) and 4-of-14 from distance. The Jaspers connected on only 6-of-25 shots in the second half and missed all four of their three-point attempts.
The Rams dominated in the paint, outscoring Manhattan, 30-14. They also held a 40-33 rebounding advantage and also took advantage by using a 14-3 lead on second-chance points.
The Jaspers jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game and continued to lead at 12-6, before five straight points from Clark and a jumper from junior
Danielle Padovano produced the first Fordham lead of the game, 13-12, with 3:41 to go in the opening stanza. But Manhattan regrouped and closed the quarter on a 7-0 flurry to lead 19-13 after the first 10 minutes.
Davis started a 12-0 run for the Rams to start the second quarter with a jumper, and a layup from Fomina moved Fordham in front by six, 25-19. A three-pointer from Burns then gave the Rams their largest lead at the time, 28-21, with 3:57 left before halftime, but the Jaspers tallied the final five points to cut the Fordham lead to 28-26 at the break.
The Rams led by as many as four in the third quarter at 35-31 after a Clark layup. However, Manhattan once again answered and used an 8-1 spurt to take a 39-36 lead with 2:22 to go in the stanza. Fordham then cut it to one when Missry found Davis after a Fomina steal, and Missry knocked down a three with 35 seconds left to give the Rams a 41-39 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Amani Tatum paced the Jasper with 12 points, while Shayna Eriksen added eight. Kayla Grimme added eight rebounds for Manhattan.
Fordham returns to action Tuesday, Nov. 24 when it welcomes Lafayette inside the Rose Hill Gym for its 2015-16 home opener. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and is part of a doubleheader with the Fordham men's basketball team, who takes on Colgate at 8 p.m.
