RICHMOND, Va. -- The Fordham women's basketball team led VCU by 15 at halftime but were outscored by 25 in the second half, as the visitors were defeated by a score of 61-51 Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 action inside Verizon Wireless Arena. With the loss, Fordham falls to 8-12 (3-4 A10) on the season, while VCU improves to 15-6 (4-4 A10) overall.
Thanks to 45 percent (13-of-29) shooting in the first half, including 7-of-12 from three-point range, Fordham, who led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, outscored VCU, 21-10 in the second to take a 37-22 advantage into the locker room. Junior
Hannah Missry scored 15 points and knocked down 5-of-7 from distance. Fordham also turned the ball over only five times against the very aggressive VCU press.
However, the second half was a completely different story. VCU scored the first 14 points of the third quarter to trim the Fordham lead to one at 37-36. Fordham managed to lead 42-40 at the end of the stanza, before being outscored 21-9 over the final quarter. Fordham got to within five at 55-51 with less than a minute remaining, but VCU closed out the contest with the final six points.
Missry, who did not attempt a single shot in the second half, finished with a game-high 15 points to go along with six boards, as she played all 40 minutes. Also playing all 40 minutes was senior
Samantha Clark, who collected her ninth double-double by tallying 13 points, a team-best 10 rebounds and two steals.
VCU shot 56 percent in the second half to finish at 49.0 percent (24-of-49) and made 13-fo-16 free throws. The home team also forced Fordham into 20 turnovers, including 15 in the second half, resulting in a 21-4 advantage in points off turnovers. Fordham shot 36.2 percent (17-fo-47) and connected on 42.9 percent (9-of-21) of its triples.
Keira Robinson paced VCU with 15 points and three steals, while Adaeze Alaeze added 14 points and three steals. Also with three steals was Jessica Ogunnorin, who finished with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Fordham looks to bounce back Saturday, Jan. 30 when it hosts Rhode Island at 2 p.m. for Alumni Day inside the Rose Hill Gym.
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