Women's Basketball Looks for Three Straight Wins in Conference Play at Davidson Wednesday Night

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CONCORD, N.C. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (8-10, 3-2 A10) looks to win its third consecutive Atlantic 10 contest Wednesday night when the Rams travel to Davidson, N.C. to take on seventh-place Davidson (8-10, 2-3 A10) inside Belk Arena at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the game online for free on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV. The two sides met Jan. 2 in the Bronx in the conference opener for both schools when the Rams defeated the Wildcats, 51-40, inside the Rose Hill Gym.
 
SCOUTING DAVIDSON: The Wildcats, who were picked to finish in the Atlantic 10, currently sit in a five-way tie for seventh place in the conference standings after collecting a 56-50 road win over VCU Sunday, which snapped a two-game losing streak that saw a pair of home losses against Saint Louis (79-50) and St. Bonaventure (59-47). Davidson's other league victory was at La Salle, 66-58. Sophomore Mackenzie Latt leads the Wildcats in scoring at 14.3 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds per game while ranking second in assists (35), blocks (13) and steals (25). Senior forward Dakota Dukes is right behind at 14.1 points per game and team highs of 7.0 rebounds per game, 25 blocks and a shooting percentage of 54.9 percent (90-of-164). Senior forward Hannah Early chips in 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while leading Davidson in steals (33) and made three-pointers (33).
 
SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting will be the fourth in the series, which began last season in Davidson when the Rams won 66-45, Jan. 28, 2015. Fordham has won all three games, including a 51-40 victory this season inside the Rose Hill Gym Jan. 2, after claiming a 54-46 win in the Bronx last season (March 1, 2015).
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Rams 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 on the CBS Sports Network. 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.
 
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 1,102 career points and is the 15th player in program history to score 1,100 points. Clark also recently grabbed her 800th career rebound in the win over George Mason and now has 815 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 213 career three's, which now ranks second on the all-time list at Fordham after she knocked down four triples versus Saint Joseph's. She now needs 21 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 28 times resulting in 28 victories. The Rams are 38-4 in such instances under Coach Gaitley and have won 29 straight. This occurred 12 times last season and five times season with the victories over Manhattan, Lafayette, Central Connecticut, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, Davidson and Saint Joseph's
 
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE: The Rams have been locking teams down defensively over the last 10 games, allowing only 50.6 points per game, including a season-best 40 points to Davidson and Saint Joseph's, the lowest such point total since Fordham yielded 36 in a 36-point victory at Central Connecticut Dec. 9, 2014. Over the 10-game stretch, the Rams have only allowed 57 points or less in each contest. Nationally, the Rams rank 29th in scoring defense (55.3).
 
CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS: The Rams are one of the top free throw shooting teams in the country, as they are ranked #46 with a percentage of 73.8 percent.
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 15th in minutes played (662:00), 27th in double-doubles (eight), 28th in minutes played per game (36.78), 59th in field goal percentage (.520), 35th in total rebounds (166) and 60th in rebounds per game (9.2).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 16th in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.9), ninth in total made 3's (52) and 59th in three-point field goal percentage (.394). Missry is also 54th in the nation in minutes played (626:00) and 94th in minutes played per game (34.78).
 
ANOTHER BIG DAY FOR BURNS: Junior Danielle Burns followed up her big game against George Mason with a solid all-around performance in the win over Saint Joseph's with a game-high 13 points, eight rebounds to tie a career high and a game-best five assists over a career-high 38 minutes.
 
EIGHT AND FIVE: Senior Samantha Clark and sophomore G'mrice Davis collected their eighth and fifth double-doubles of the season, respectively, in the win over Saint Joseph's. Clark finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the fourth time this season, and Davis recorded 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT: The Rams will have a week off before returning to to the road Wednesday, Jan. 27 when they travel to Richmond, Va. to take on VCU at 7 p.m.