BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team started Sunday's contest with Saint Joseph's on a 20-2 run and held on for a 47-40 victory in Atlantic 10 action inside the Rose Hill Gym. With the victory, the Rams improve to 8-10 (3-2 A10) on the season, while the Hawks fall to 9-8 (3-2 A10) overall.
Sophomore
G'mrice Davis tallied the first six points for the Rams, and junior
Danielle Burns followed with the next five to give Fordham an 11-0 lead at the 6:14 mark of the first quarter. After St. Joe's scored, Burns sank another triple, and junior
Hannah Missry followed with back-to-back trifectas for the 20-2 advantage with 3:36 left in the opening stanza.
The lead eventually reached 19 at 23-4, before the Hawks scored the final seven of the quarter to cut the Fordham lead to 23-11 after 10 minutes.
The visitors slowly trimmed into the Rams' advantage in the second quarter and crawled back to within six at 25-19 until Missry knocked down a three to start a half-ending 7-0 run, with Davis converting a pair of buckets to produce a 32-19 lead.
Senior
Samantha Clark drilled a three-pointer to start the third quarter, and Fordham eventually took a pair of 17-point leads, with the last coming at 40-23 with 3:36 left in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. The Rams went scoreless the rest of the quarter, and the Hawks managed to make it 40-29 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter became a little dicey for Fordham, who took a 43-32 lead with 5:32 remaining when Missry converted another triple. Over the next three minutes, Saint Joseph's netted seven of the next eight points to get to within four at 44-40, and had an opportunity to make it a two-point game. However, the Rams got a stop, and Clark scored on a layup and hit a free throw down the stretch to seal the seven-point victory.
The Rams finished the game shooting at 36.2 percent (17-of-47) after knocking down 46.2 percent (12-of-26) of their shots in the first half. Fordham drained its first five three's and 6-of-9 over the opening 20 minutes but finished at 47.1 percent (8-of-17). The Rams also won the battle on the glass, 40-37. Defensively, Fordham held the Hawks to only 28.1 percent (16-of-57) and just 1-of-11 from downtown.
Burns paced the Rams with 13 points, tied a career high in rebounds with eight, dished out a game-high five assists and played a career-high 38 minutes. Clark recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Davis collected her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Missry also netted 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind the arc.
No one scored in double figures for the Hawks, but Ciara Andrews, Chelsea Woods and Amanda Fioravanti all scored eight points, while Sarah Fairbanks added six points and eight boards.
Fordham will look to win its third straight conference game Wednesday, Jan. 20 when it travels to Davidson, N.C. to take on Davidson. The Rams defeated the Wildcats, 51-40, to start Atlantic 10 play Jan. 2.
