PRINCETON, N.J. -- After leading Princeton, 40-38, after three quarters of play, the Fordham women's basketball team was outscored, 17-4, over the final 10 minutes in a 55-44 defeat Monday night inside Jadwin Gymnasium. With the loss, the Rams fall to 3-7 on the season, while the Tigers, who are receiving votes in both national polls, improve to 9-1 overall.
Fordham trailed 26-18 at the half, before junior
Hannah Missry caught fire and scored 11 points in the third quarter. She knocked down a triple to start the stanza and a 13-3 run, and her second three of the quarter gave the Rams their first lead of the game at 30-28 with 7:10 to go in the frame.
After Fordham went in front by three, Princeton scored five straight to retake the lead, before the Rams came back to take a three-point lead two more times, with the last time coming with 30 seconds remaining when senior
Samantha Clark became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 points. Her layup made it 40-37 at the time, and Fordham would enter the final 10 minutes leading 40-38.
The Tigers scored 43 seconds into the final quarter to tie the game, and junior
Danielle Burns knocked down a jumper to give the Rams their final lead of the game at 42-40. Princeton then scored the next eight and the final seven points of the contest, after Fordham failed to score over the final 6:28 when Clark's layup made it 48-44.
The Rams started the game down 9-0 and did not score until Missry connected on a three at the 3:49 mark of the first quarter. The trifecta started a 7-2 spurt that navigated Fordham to an 11-7 deficit after 10 minutes.
The run eventually stretched to 12-4 when Clark delivered a three from the left corner that crept the Rams back to within one at 13-12. Princeton answered with a 13-3 run to take its largest lead at 26-15, before sophomore
Asnate Fomina drilled a three-pointer at the end of the half to put Fordham down 26-18 at halftime.
The Rams, who were shooting over 50 percent at one point in the second half, finished the contest at 32.7 percent (17-of-52), including 7-of-19 from distance. The defense held Princeton to 36.7 percent (18-of-49), 10 percent below its season average, and just 6-of-21 in the second half. The defense also held the Tigers to 22 points below their season average as well. But the difference in the game came at -the free throw line, where Princeton outscored Fordham, 17-3, as the Tigers made 17-of-24 compared to just 3-of-4 for the Rams.
Fordham took better care of the basketball and committed one less turnover than Princeton, who had 15. However, the Tigers used a 14-5 advantage in points-off-turnovers to help their cause. They also held a commanding advantage on the glass at 44-25, including 13-4 on the offensive boards, which resulted in an 11-2 edge in second-chance points.
Missry paced the Rams with 14 points to go along with five boards to tie a season high, while Clark added 12 points, a team-high seven boards and a game-high two blocks.
Alex Wheatley led the Tigers with 15 points and six rebounds, and Amanda Berntsen added 11 points, five boards and a game-high four assists. Leading scorer Annie Tarakchian was held to nine points and but grabbed a game-high 10 boards and recorded a game-high three steals.
Fordham, who has finals this week, will return to action Sunday, Dec. 20 when it welcomes Central Connecticut to the Rose Hill Gym for a 2 p.m. start.
