Women's Basketball Hosts Rhode Island Saturday for Alumni Day

Live Video (Free) | Live Audio (Free) | Live Stats
Twitter Updates @FordhamWBB | Game Notes

BRONX, N.Y. -- The seventh-place Fordham women's basketball team (8-12, 3-4 A10) looks to end a mini two-game Atlantic 10 skid when the Rams welcome fifth-place Rhode Island (10-9, 4-3 A10) inside the Rose Hill Gym Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. start. Fans can watch the game online for free on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND: The Rams, who were picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic 10, are sitting all alone in fifth place after edging out a road win at Massachusetts, 80-79, Wednesday to increase their win streak to three. Rhody started league play 0-2 when they fell at home to St. Bonaventure (69-56) and at George Washington (68-52), before collecting their first victory, 57-50, at Richmond. After another loss, a 79-70 defeat by Duquesne, the Rams started their win streak with a 72-61 victory at La Salle and a 78-62 home win over Davidson.

Charise Wilson, a Preseason Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, paces Rhody in scoring at 16.7 points per game while leading the squad in assists (72), steals (42) and made three's (51-of-101, .338). She also grabs 4.1 rebounds per game as well. Samantha Tabakman adds 14.1 points per game and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 56.8 percent (100-of-176) from the field, which leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks 26th in the country. She is also the Rams' top free throw shooter at 75.9 percent (63-of-83) and has the second-most blocks with 33.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's meeting will be the 34th in the series, with URI holding a 19-14 advantage. The series dates back to Feb. 20, 1981, when URI won in the Bronx, 72-39. URI would win the following season exactly one year later in Kingston, R.I., 79-68, before the two sides would finally meet again when Fordham joined the Atlantic 10 in the 1995-96 season. Overall, URI won the first give games in the series until the Rams broke through, 73-66, in Kingston Feb. 13, 1997. Fordham had won five in a row in the series (Jan. 2010-Jan. 2014), after URI also won five straight from Feb. 2006-Jan. 2009. But URI ended Fordham's five-game win streak with a 71-56 win last season in Kingston.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Rams 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.

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.
 
SATURDAY IS ALUMNI DAY: The Rams are hosting their annual Alumni Day Saturday. Twenty-two former Rams have already RSVP'd saying they are coming. One event that will be taking place is the first-ever women's basketball Alumni Game, which is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. and last until 11:15 a.m. For those of you who cannot make it at 10:30 to play, there will be a pregame reception lasting from 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Dagger John's.

Scheduled to be on campus Saturday is Becky Peters, Kyara Weekes, Krya Holiday, Tiffany Ruffin, Taryn Durant, Marah Strickland, Lara Hanson, Jada Jefferson, Abigail Corning, Emily Tapio, Anne Gregory, Karen Yost, Dr. Bilotti, Joanne Little, Linda Gallbraith, Liz Milner, Liz McGovern, Sharon Nast Curley (Fordham's 2016 Atlantic 10 Legend), Peggy Burns Rozenzweig, Laura DeGennaro Raftery, Judy Puchalski and Ellen Jo Haskell.
 
FORDHAM TO HOST NEW YORK LIBERTY YOUTH BASKETBALL CLINIC FEBRUARY 13: Fordham Athletics is proud to announce the third in a series of women's basketball clinics this season. This one, which is slated for Saturday, Feb. 13, will be conducted by the New York Liberty beginning at 12 p.m. Registration will take place from 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Tipoff between the Rams and La Salle is at 2 p.m. and all clinic participants will receive a ticket to the game. Those interested in participating in the clinic can register online at fordhamsports.com/liberty.

The New York Liberty clinic will feature a pre-game Q&A with Fordham Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley, current players and Liberty Director of Player Development Teresa Weatherspoon as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. A full clinic will follow in the Lombardi Center featuring New York Liberty representatives. Participants will receive a Liberty t-shirt, shoelaces and rally towel as well as two tickets to a future New York Liberty game. The cost of the clinic is only $30 and includes admission to Fordham's game against La Salle. Additional game tickets for non-participants, parents and family members are just $2.
 
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 1,125 career points to ranks 13th on the all-time list and was 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 829 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 220 career three's, which now ranks second on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs 14 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 had been locking teams down defensively over the last 10 games prior to Davidson last time out, 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 38th in scoring defense (56.3).
 
CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS: The Rams are one of the top free throw shooting teams in the country, as they are ranked #61 with a percentage of 72.9 percent.
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 32nd in minutes played (728:00), 30th in double-doubles (9), 30th in minutes played per game (36.40), 47th in total rebounds (180) and 69th in rebounds per game (9.0).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 18th in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.95), 12th in total made 3's (59) and 73rd in three-point field goal percentage (.386). Missry is also 69th in the nation in minutes played (700:00) and 92nd in minutes played per game (35.00).
 
UP NEXT: The Rams continue their mini two-game homestand when they welcome first-place George Washington to the Rose Hill Gym Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.