Seniors Lead Women's Basketball Over Davidson on Senior Day

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BRONX, N.Y. -- It was Senior Day inside the Rose Hill Gym Sunday for the Fordham women's basketball team, and things became tight for the Rams late in the second half in their regular-season Atlantic 10 finale with last-place Davidson. However, it was the play of senior Emily Tapio and graduate student Tiffany Ruffin down the stretch that allowed Fordham to rally for a 54-46 victory over the Wildcats. With the victory, the Rams improve to 19-10 (11-5 A10) on the season, while Davidson falls to 5-24 (1-15 A10) overall.

Fordham tied its largest lead of the game, 38-25, after Tapio made a pair of free throws at the 14:51 mark of the second half. But the Rams would go cold from field and struggled taking care of the basketball, as the Wildcats navigated a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to go in front, 42-40, with 7:14 remaining.

Tapio answered for Fordham and tied the game at 42-42, before Davidson regained the lead for the final time. Tapio then delivered one of the big plays of the game when she converted an old-fashion three-point play in traffic, which put the advantage back in the Rams favor for good, 45-44.

Tapio knocked down a jumper on Fordham's next possession, before Ruffin buried a basket at the 2:13 mark to stretch the lead out to 49-44.

Davidson cut the lead to three on a pair of free throws with 46 ticks left, but it was as close as the Wildcats would come, after the Rams made 5-of-6 free throws to seal the victory.

Tapio finished with her second double-double of the season with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Ruffin added 11 points, a game-high four assists and two steals. Sophomore Hannah Missry also netted 11 points, while junior Samantha Clark chipped in seven points and a game-high 12 boards.

Neither side shot well from the field, with Fordham shooting at a 37.5 percent (18-of-48) clip, including 5-of-17 from three-point range, while Davidson finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58) and just 2-of-11 from distance. The Rams won the battle on the glass, 42-33, and swished 13-of-20 free throws, compared to 6-of-7 for the Wildcats.

Fordham was in control after taking a 6-4 lead on Missry's second three-pointer of the game, as the Rams started out 4-for-4 from the field. Fordham stretched its lead out to 13 three different times over the first 20 minutes and held a 31-21 lead at halftime.

Dakota Dukes and Alex Long each scored 13 points to lead Davidson, while Hannah Early, the Wildcats leading scorer, was held to just four points. She did grab 10 boards and record a game-high three steals.

The Rams return to action this Friday, March 6 at the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Richmond, Va., where they are the #4 seed and play the winner of the #5 Richmond/#12 St. Bonaventure-#13 Massachusetts game (3/5) in the quarterfinals. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. inside the Richmond Coliseum and will be televised on American Sports Network (check local listings).