Atlantic 10 Release | Complete Schedule

BRONX, N.Y. -- With the official release of the Atlantic 10 conference schedule, the 2015-16 schedule for the Fordham women's basketball team is set (with some times to be determined), it was announced Wednesday by head coach Stephanie Gaitley, who is set to begin her 30th year of coaching and fifth on Rose Hill.
 
The Rams play 15 games inside the Rose Hill Gym, 12 true road contests, and two neutral site matchups in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend. Fordham is also scheduled to have three appearances on national television during the Atlantic 10 season, two on the CBS Sports Network and one on the American Sports Network (ASN).
 
The schedule proves to be challenging with 10 teams playing in the postseason last year, including six NCAA participants. Out of the Atlantic 10, Dayton and George Washington each played in the NCAA Tournament, with Dayton advancing all the way to the Elite Eight, where they fell to eventual national champion Connecticut, after leading the Huskies at halftime. Syracuse, Seton Hall, Princeton and New Mexico State also played in the NCAA Tournament, while Temple, Central Connecticut, Duquesne and Richmond competed in the WNIT.

"We feel our challenging out of conference schedule will prepare us for the battles of A-10 play," Gaitley said. "There is a great deal of parity in our conference, which will mean every game will be a war. We are proud to be the sixth-rated conference in the country, and we will continue to do our best to one of the elite teams in the A-10."
 
The Rams open their 46th season Sunday, Nov. 15 on the road against traditional Big Ten power Penn State, with a tipoff time still to be determined. The contest will be the third all-time meeting between the two schools.
 
Fordham returns to the Bronx Wednesday, Nov. 18, but for a road game at local-rival Manhattan. The annual "Battle of the Bronx" tilt, the 47th edition in a series dating back to the 1979-80 season, will be played at 7 p.m. in Riverdale, N.Y.
 
Six days later (Tuesday, Nov. 24), the Rams welcome Lafayette inside the Rose Hill Gym for the 2015-16 home opener. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and is the opening contest of a doubleheader with the Fordham men's basketball team. The meeting with their former Patriot League rival will be the 18th in the all-time series.
 

Fordham will then head out to Las Vegas for the second time in the last three seasons to participate in the South Point Shootout. First up for the Rams is Texas Tech, who they will play Friday, Nov. 27 inn the first-ever matchup with the Big 12 school from Lubbock. The Rams then take on Syracuse the following day (Saturday, Nov. 28). The Orange, who defeated the Rams last November in Syracuse, was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This will be the fourth meeting in the all-time series with the Atlantic Coast Conference school.
 
The Rams return to the Rose Hill Gym the following week to host a pair of Delaware schools to begin the December schedule. Fordham welcomes Delaware Thursday, Dec. 3 (7 p.m.), before matching up with Delaware State Saturday, Dec. 5, which will be part of another basketball doubleheader with the men's team beginning at 2 p.m. The Rams won at Delaware last November in their fourth-ever meeting, while the Hornets have never beaten Fordham in two previous contests.

A short trip down the New Jersey Turnpike to Seton Hall is slated for Wednesday, Dec. 9. The Pirates were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and knocked off the Rams inside the Rose Hill Gym last December in the 10th meeting in the all-time series.

Fordham welcomes former Atlantic 10-rival Temple, who made it all the way to the semifinals of the WNIT, inside the Rose Hill Gym Saturday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m., before traveling back to the Garden State two days later (Monday, Dec. 14) to take on Princeton (for the 10th time), who was the last undefeated team in the nation a year ago and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for their first and only loss. The Rams knocked off the Owls last season in Philadelphia in the two sides' 30th meeting, before losing to the Tigers in the championship of the Fordham Holiday Classic.

The Rams then play Central Connecticut for the third time in the last two seasons Sunday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. inside the Rose Hill Gym. The two sides squared off at CCSU last December (a Fordham victory), before Fordham eliminated the Blue Devils in the first round of the WNIT last March inside the Rose Hill Gym.

After Christmas, the Ninth Annual Fordham Holiday Classic will take place inside the Rose Hill Gym Tuesday Dec. 29 and Wednesday Dec. 30. The Rams open with Texas A&M Corpus Christi in another first-ever matchup with a Texas school, and will face either New Mexico State, a NCAA Tournament team a year ago after winning the Western Athletic Conference, or Southeast Conference-foe Vanderbilt the following day. Fordham has never played the Aggies, and lost to the Commodores in its only meeting back during the 1999-2000 season.
 
The 16-game Atlantic 10 schedule, featuring eight home games and eight away games, begins Saturday, Jan. 2 with a home contest Davidson. The Rams then hit the road for a pair of games at St. Bonaventure (Thursday, Jan. 7) and Duquesne, which will be broadcast nationally on the CBS Sports Network at 12 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10.
 

Fordham returns to the Rose Hill Gym to host both George Mason (Wednesday, Jan. 13) and Saint Joseph's, which will be a second nationally-broadcast contest on CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17.
 
The Rams travel on two of their longer conference road trips for their next two games. First is a trip to North Carolina to take on Davidson (Wednesday, Jan. 20) for a second time, before a trip to Richmond the following Wednesday (Jan. 27) against VCU.
 
Fordham closes out January with a home contest against Rhode Island (Saturday, Jan. 30), before welcoming 2014-15 Atlantic 10 champion George Washington to the Rose Hill Gym Wednesday, Feb. 3.
 
The Rams travel opposite directions for their next two games, first north to Amherst to take on Massachusetts Saturday, Feb. 6, and then south to Philadelphia for a second meeting with Saint Joseph's Wednesday, Feb. 10.

La Salle comes to the Rose Hill Gym Saturday, Feb. 13, while Fordham returns to the Virginia state capital to face Richmond Wednesday, Feb. 17.
 
The Rams finish out the home portion of their schedule against Saint Louis (Sunday, Feb. 21) and a second matchup with St. Bonaventure (Wednesday, Feb. 24), which will be Senior Night for seniors Samantha Clark and Khadijah Gibson. Fordham then closes out the regular season at Dayton for a nationally-televised contest on the American Sports Network at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28.
    
All 14 Atlantic 10 teams will advance to Richmond for the A-10 Women's Championship, to be held from March 2-6 at the Richmond Coliseum. The A-10 Network will broadcast the first two rounds (March 2-3), while the American Sports Network will air the quarterfinals Friday, March 4. The semifinals Saturday, March 5 begin at 11 a.m. on the CBS Sports Network, and the championship takes place on ESPNU Sunday, March 6 at 12 p.m.
 
Junior Hannah Missry is the Rams' returning leading scorer at 9.3 points per game. She also shot 37.3 percent (78-of-209) from downtown while averaging 26.3 minutes per game. Clark averaged 8.6 points per game and led the squad in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and blocked shots (1.12 bpg) over 31.7 minutes per game. She also has the most assists out of the returning players with 55.
 
Also back and saw extended playing time last season is junior Danielle Burns (4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 19.5 mpg), who started 15 games last season, sophomore G'mrice Davis (6.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 16.0 mpg), who returns with the most steals at 28, and junior Danielle Padovano (3.2 ppg, 11.5 mpg).