PITTSBURGH -- The Fordham women's basketball team was defeated by Duquesne, 55-40, Sunday afternoon in Atlantic 10 action inside the A.J. Palumbo Center. With the loss, the Rams fall to 6-10 (1-2 A10) on the season, while the Dukes win their 14th straight to improve to 15-1 (3-0 A10) overall.
Freshman
Lauren Holden came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points on a season-best six field goals (on 11 attempts), including 2-of-3 from three-point range while grabbing a season-high five rebounds. Junior
Danielle Padovano added a season-best nine points and four rebounds, and senior
Samantha Clark just missed a double-double with eight points, a game-high 13 rebounds (to tie a season high) and a team-best three assists. Second-leading scorer
Hannah Missry was held scoreless, but the junior did grab a career-high nine rebounds.
Fordham shot 27.0 percent (17-of-63) from the field, including 3-of-21 from distance. The Rams missed their first 10 shots of the game and finished 7-of-31 in the first half. Duquesne wasn't much better, as the Dukes finished at 35.7 percent (20-of-56) made 6-of-19 from three-point range and added six more free throws than Fordham.
The Rams did claim battle on the glass, 42-40, and corralled 15 offensive rebounds to gain a 10-2 advantage on second-chance points. Fordham only turned it over 12 times as well, but the Rams forced just nine miscues, resulting in being outscored by seven on points off turnovers.
Duquesne scored the first 10 points of the game, before the Rams fought back and cut it to 12-8 when junior
Danielle Burns converted an old-fashion three-point play at the 2:27 mark. Fordham would trail the Dukes, 14-10, after the first 10 minutes.
Duquesne scored the first six points of the second quarter, and the Rams did not convert over the first five minutes until Burns made a layup to cut the deficit to 20-12. The Rams eventually netted just six points in the stanza and found themselves trailing, 29-18, at the half.
Fordham tallied the first five points of the second half, with a three from Holden moving the Rams to within eight at 29-21, but the Dukes answered by closing out the third quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 40-23 after 30 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter was a bright spot for Fordham, as the Rams outscored Duquesne, 17-15.
The Dukes were led by Amadea Szamosi, who led all scorers with 23 points to go along with a team-best nine rebounds. Chassidy Omogrosso added 12 points, while April Robinson reached her assist average with eight dimes. Fordham did limit Robinson to zero points, as she came in as the second-leading scorer. The defense also held leading scorer DevaNyar to just five points.
The Rams return to action Wednesday, Jan. 13 when they return to the Rose Hill Gym to host George Mason in the annual Kids Day game, with tipoff slated for 12 p.m.
