Women's Basketball Hosts Saint Joseph's Sunday on CBS Sports Network at 4 P.M.

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (7-10, 2-2 A10) finishes a mini two-game homestand when it welcomes Saint Joseph's (9-7, 3-1 A10) inside the Rose Hill Gym for a nationally-televised Atlantic 10 battle on CBS Sports Network, with tipoff slated for 4 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S: The Hawks, who were projected to finish in a seventh place in the Atlantic 10, sit in a two-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings after winning their last three conference games. St. Joe's lost at home to George Washington (70-45) to start league play, before claiming back-to-back road victories at Massachusetts (62-58) and VCU (66-63). In their contest Wednesday, the Hawks defeated Richmond, 64-53, at home. Saint Joseph's has won five of six and has played two common opponents with the Rams. The Hawks lost at Seton Hall by 12 (Fordham lost at Seton Hall by 12) and defeated Temple by three on the road (Fordham lost at home by 13). Saint Joseph's is led by in scoring by Thrid Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 selection Ciara Andrews, who leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game to go along with a team-high 19 steals. Sarah Fairbanks adds 10.8 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game along with team highs in assists (39) and blocks (16).
 
SERIES HISTORY: Sunday's meeting will be the 43rd time in the series, with the Hawks holding a commanding 35-7 advantage. The series dates back to March 3, 1972 when Saint Joseph's won by a score of 48-23, which started a six-game win streak to start the series. Fordham collected its first victory over the Hawks, 74-65, in the Bronx Feb. 27, 1996 in its first season in the Atlantic 10. Saint Joseph's went on to win the next 13 in the series until the Rams won, 57-53, in Philadelphia Feb. 16, 2003. However, Fordham has won four of the last four meetings and is 4-3 under Coach Gaitley, with two of the contests heading to overtime. The Rams grinded out a 57-47 victory last season (Jan. 15) inside the Rose Hill Gym on Jan. 15, before rallying late in the second half Feb. 8 at St. Joe's to shock the Hawks, 48-47. The first victory last season allowed Fordham to claim back-to-back victories over Saint Joseph's for the first time in series history, as the Rams are currently on a three-game win streak.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Rams returned to the win column Wednesday afternoon when it defeated George Mason, 66-54 ,in Atlantic 10 action inside the Rose Hill Gym during the annual Field Trip Day festivities, as students from local schools in the area come to watch the game.

Junior Danielle Burns led the way with a career-high 17 points on a career-best eight field goals to go along with six rebounds over a career-high 37 minutes. Fellow classmate Hannah Missry broke out of her shooting slump in a big way by knocking down five trifectas to finish with 15 points, while senior Samantha Clark posted her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds to tie a career high. She also added six blocked shots to tie a career best. Clark and Missry also played all 40 minutes. Junior Danielle Padovano also continued her strong play of late by chipping in eight points, three boards and a career-high three assists in 29 minutes off the bench.

Fordham shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field and made 8-of-25 from three-point range while knocking down 12-of-15 from the free throw line.  The defense held Mason to 32.2 percent (19-of-59) shooting, including just 3-of-9 from distance, although the Patriots knocked down 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. The Rams also won the rebounding battle, 40-34, recorded a season-high seven blocks and turned it over just 12 times.

Fordham jumped out to a 5-0 lead by a trey ball from Missry and a layup from Clark, as the Rams led the game wire-to-wire. The advantage eventually reached eight when sophomore Aaliyah Jones's basket made it 13-5 at the 2:06 mark, before Mason fought back to slice the lead to 13-11 after 10 minute of play.

Padovano delivered a three to start the scoring in the second stanza, which saw the Patriots climb to within one on three different occasions. A layup from Burns would produce a seven-point Ram lead with 1:53 left before halftime, but Mason knocked down a three-pointer with just under 30 seconds left in the half, and Fordham led by a score of 29-25 at intermission.

The visitors once again crept back within one point, this time with 4:43 left in the third quarter, before the Rams closed the first 10 minutes of the second half with six straight thanks to a pair of baskets from Burns sandwiching two free throws from Clark. Fordham led 40-33 after 30 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter saw a lot of scoring, as both sides combined to tally 47 points. The Rams saw their lead eventually dwindle down to two at 54-52 with 3:13 to go, but Fordham closed strong with a 12-2 run to clinch the victory, 66-54.
 
GAITLEY'S SAINT JOSEPH'S TIES: Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley was the leader of the Hawks' program for 10 seasons from 1991-2001. She never posted a losing season en route to a record of 196-88, two Atlantic 10 titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances and one WNIT selection.
 
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 CLUB: Senior Samantha Clark became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 points with her third-quarter layup with 30 seconds remaining in the stanza. She now has 1,090 career points, which ranks 15th. Clark also recently grabbed her 800th career rebound in the win over George Mason and now has 803 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT THIRD: Junior Hannah Missry now has 209 career three's, which now ranks third on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs 25 more to become the program's all-time leader.
 
DEFENSE DOMINATING: Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Fordham has held its opponents to less than 50 points 27 times resulting in 27 victories. The Rams are 37-4 in such instances under Coach Gaitley and have won 28 straight. This occurred 12 times last season, including a pair of victories over Saint Joseph's, and five times season with the victories over Manhattan, Lafayette, Central Connecticut, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and Davidson.
 
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE: The Rams have been locking teams down defensively over the last nine games, allowing only 51.8 points per game, including a season-best 40 points to Davidson, the lowest such point total since Fordham yielded 36 in a 36-point victory at Central Connecticut Dec. 9, 2014. Over the nine-game stretch, the Rams have only allowed 57 points or less in each contest. Nationally, the Rams rank 44th in scoring defense (56.4).
 
CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS: The Rams are one of the top free throw shooting teams in the country, as they are ranked #36 with a percentage of 74.2 percent.
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 13th in minutes played (622:00), 31st in double-doubles (seven), 27th in minutes played per game (36.59), 59th in field goal percentage (.515), 30th in total rebounds (140) and 65th in rebounds per game (9.1).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 23rd in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.82) and 13th in total made 3's (48). Missry is also 35th in the nation in minutes played (593:00) and 85th in minutes played per game (34.88).
 
BURNS' BIG DAY: Junior Danielle Burns netted a career-high 17 points on a career-best eight field goals (on 10 attempts) and logged a career-high 37 minutes in the win over George Mason.
 
CLARKS' CAREER HIGHS: Senior Samantha Clark tied two career highs in the won over George Mason. She tied her career best in rebounds with 14 and rejected six shots for the third time in her career, with the last time coming in a game at Richmond during her freshman season.  She also added 14 points, which produced her seventh double-double of the season, and she played all 40 minutes for the third time this year.
 
MISSRY BREAKS OUT: Junior Hannah Missry busted out of a huge shooting slump in a big way in the win over George Mason. She knocked down 5-of-11 three's to finish with 15 points. She started out Atlantic 10 play 2-of-22 and 1-of-16 from three-point range.
 
PADDLES PRODUCES: Junior Danielle Padovano scored a season-high nine points and tied a career high in field goals with four at Duquesne and followed that performance with eight points and three assists to tie a career high in the win over George Mason.
 
 UP NEXT: The Rams return to the road this Wednesday, Jan. 20 when they travel to Davidson, N.C. to take on Davidson in Atlantic 10 action at 7 p.m.