Women's Basketball at Seton Hall Wednesday Night

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (3-4) looks to continue its winning ways Wednesday night when the Rams travel to South Orange, N.J. to take on RV/RV Seton Hall (7-1) inside Walsh Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the game online on the Pirate Sports Network for a fee or listen for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING SETON HALL: The Pirates, who are picked to finish fifth in the 10-team BIG EAST Conference, just suffered their first loss of the season Sunday at Georgia, 70-52, dropping them out of the Top 25 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll, which they were ranked #22/21 last week. The loss also snapped a seven-game win streak to start the season. Seton Hall has home victories over Bryant, Rutgers and Princeton; road victories at Atlantic 10 foe Saint Joseph's and UT-Arlington; and wins over North Carolina State and Northern Iowa in Cancun, Mexico.

The Pirates have four players averaging double figures in scoring, with All-BIG EAST performer Tabitha Richardson-Smith leading the way with 17.5 points per game to go along with 6.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from distance and 79.1 percent (34-of-43) from the free throw line. Aleesha Powell is next with 12.1 points and a team-best 17 steals, while Tiffany Jones chips in 11.4 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game. She is also the top three-point shooter at 45.9 percent (17-of-37) and has the best field goal percentage at 47.1 percent (33-of-70). Shakena Richardson rounds out the double-digit scoring with 10.3 points per game while dishing out a team-high 6.1 assists per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's meeting between the local rivals will be the 11th in the series. Seton Hall won last season inside the Rose Hill Gym, 56-43, which was the first matchup in the series since Dec. 6, 2003 when the Rams won 74-63 at the Metro Challenge in Jamaica, N.Y. The first game took place Jan. 19, 1977, a 56-52 Fordham victory.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Junior Hannah Missry poured in a career-high 30 points while drilling a career-best 10 field goals on 18 attempts and a career-high eight triples on 16 tries to lead the Rams to a 74-58 victory Saturday over Delaware State inside the Rose Hill Gym. Senior Samantha Clark tied her season high in points with 15 on 7-of-8 shooting and added a season-best five assists and two steals. Sophomore G'mrice Davis chipped in 12 points, 10 rebounds to tie a career best, a career-high four assists and a game-high four steals, while junior Danielle Burns tallied seven points, six boards and a career-best six assists.
               
Fordham, who shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from the field, assisted on 24 of its 25 buckets. The Rams also swished a season-high 12 three's on 32 attempts and made 12-of-16 free throws. Delaware State finished at 43.2 percent (19-of-44) from the floor, including 5-of-10 from distance, and connected on 15-of-17 from the charity stripe. Fordham forced 22 Hornet turnovers, which included a season-high 10 steals. The Rams also dominated on the glass, 40-24, and on the offensive boards, 18-4, leading to a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points.
               
Clark scored nine points in the opening stanza to help Fordham jump out to a 19-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. Missry then took over in the second quarter, scoring 15 of her 20 first-half points in the frame to give the Rams a 39-23 lead at the half. But the third quarter was all Delaware State, as the visitors cut their deficit to 51-50 with a 27-12 run the first 10 minutes after halftime. A Clark layup to start the fourth triggered a 12-2 spurt, which moved Fordham back in front by 10 at 62-52. After the Hornets crept back to within six, Missry nailed her seventh trifecta of the game to break her old record while starting a game-ending 14-2 run. She finished with 10 points in the final quarter.
 
PADOVANO NOMINATED FOR 2016 ALLSTATE WBCA GOOD WORKS TEAM®: Junior Danielle Padovano was selected as one of 257 total nominees (an all-time high) for the 2016 Allstate WBCA and NABC Good Works Team®, it was announced Wednesday, Dec. 1 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Allstate Insurance Company. This distinguished award shines a spotlight on a select group of student-athletes who have shown dedication to community service and altruism in their communities. Padovano is the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). The student-athlete is recognized to be at the heart of the athletics program. The mission of SAAC is to assist in the creation of an environment where all athletes have the opportunity to maximize their academic, personal, and social growth and provide them with tools for a productive and satisfying life during and after college.
 
550: Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley recorded her 550th career victory in the win over Lafayette Nov. 24.
 
1,000-POINT WATCH: Senior Samantha Clark needs 46 points to become the 18th player in program history to record 1,000 points in their career. Clark also recently grabbed her 700th career rebound and now has 710 for her career, which ranks seventh all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY GOES OFF: Junior Hannah Missry poured in a career-high 30 points, connected on a career-best 10 field goals, and drilled a career-high eight three-pointers in the win over Delaware State. The 30 points scored were the most by a Ram since Marah Strickland tallied 31 against Saint Joseph's Feb. 24, 2013; the 10 made field goals were the most since Emily Tapio finished with 10 at Davidson Jan. 28, 2015; and the eight triples, which fell one short of the program record, were the most since Daniela Roark hit seven at Morgan State Jan. 5, 2007.
 
MISSRY AT FOURTH: Junior Hannah Missry now has 186 career three's, which contines to rank fourth on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs 48 more to become the program's all-time leader.
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks sixth in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (3.57) 11th in total made 3's (25) & 29th in 3-PT FG % (.472).
 
THIRD DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Senior Samantha Clark recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Delaware, which gave her 10 for her career. Sophomor G'mrice Davis then collected her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds versus Delaware State.
 
74: The Rams scored a season-high 74 points in the win over Delaware State.
 
24-OF-25: The Rams assisted on 24 of their 25 buckets in the win over Delaware State. The 24 assists were the most in a game since registering 21 against George Washington Feb. 8, 2014
 
JONES RETURNS TO STARTING LINEUP: Sophomore Aaliyah Jones returned to the starting lineup against Delaware State and logged a career-high 20 minutes.
 
47.7 %: The Rams shot a season-high 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field in the loss to #23/RV Syracuse.
 
BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Senior Samantha Clark and sophomore G'mrice Davis each collected double-doubles for the second game in a row after the victory over Lafayette. Clark netted a season-high 15 points and grabbed 10 boards to go along with a season-best three rejections, while Davis added 11 points, 10 boards (to tie a career high) and three steals, giving her eight thefts over the last two contests.
 
DEFENSE DOMINATING: Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Fordham has held its opponents to less than 50 points 24 times resulting in 24 victories. The Rams are 35-4 in such instances under Coach Gaitley and have won 26 straight. This occurred 12 times last season already twice season with the victories over Manhattan and Lafayette.
 
CAREER GAME: Sophomore G'mrice Davis produced the best game of her young career in the win over Manhattan. She tied career highs in points (19), rebounds (10) and field goals made (8) while establishing new career bests in steals (5), assists (3) and minutes played (34). The double-double was the first of her career.
 
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 transferred 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 teamed 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 the Rose Hill Gym Saturday, Dec. 12 when they welcome former Atlantic 10 rival Temple for a 2 p.m. start.