Women's Basketball Starts Conference Road Swing at St. Bonaventure Thursday Night

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OLEAN, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (6-8, 1-0 A10) takes on St. Bonaventure (12-2, 1-0 A10) in its Atlantic 10 road opener inside the Reilly Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday night. Fans can watch the game online for free on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE: The Bonnies, who are picked to finish ninth in the conference, are one of the hottest teams in the country having won 11 in a row, including a 70-60 victory over a Penn State team that beat the Rams by 16 in the season opener. St. Bonaventure is coming off a 69-56 road victory at Rhode Island last Saturday in its conference opener and have won eight straight by double-digits and 10 of 11 by double digits during the win streak, with the only close one coming in a 73-68 double overtime victory at Stony Brook. During the streak the Bonnies are defeating their opponents by an average of 13.7 points per game. Katie Healy, who is a Preseason First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, leads the way with 15.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 53.7 percent (73-of-136) from the field. Miranda Drummond adds 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 46.9 percent (61-of-130) from the field, including 35.1 percent (26-of-74) from distance. Nyla Rueter, who chips in 11.8 points per game and a team-best 24 steals, is the top three-point threat at 37.1 percent (36-of-97), and Mariah Ruff is the floor general with a team-high 51 assists to go along with 8.7 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's meeting will be the 35th meeting in the series, which dates back to Jan. 6, 1996 when the Rams won, 86-65, in what would be their first of four victories at St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies took control of the series with a pair of seven-game win streaks (12/4/99 - 12/31/02; 1/26/07 - 3/4/11). Under Coach Gaitley, Fordham is 4-2 against St. Bonaventure, including a pair of victories last season, with the road win giving the Rams their first victory in St. Bonaventure since the 2005-06 season while snapping the Bonnies 15-game home court win streak. Fordham has won three straight in the series and four of the last five.
 
LAST TIME OUT: For the fourth straight year and the sixth time in program history, the Rams were victorious in their Atlantic 10 opener, as they defeated Davidson, 51-40, Saturday inside the Rose Hill Gym. Sophomore G'mrice Davis poured in a career-high 21 points and tied a career high in rebounds with 10 to collect her fourth double-double of the season while knocking down 9-of-10 free throws. Senior Samantha Clark recorded her sixth double-double of the season, after corralling 13 rebounds for the second time this week – tying a season high – and added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.

The Rams' defense was stifling all game en route to holding Davidson to just 25.9 percent (15-of-58) from the field, including 3-of-13 from three-point range. The Wildcats only scored 15 points in the first half, a season-low total Fordham has held an opponent to at halftime or in any half this season. Meanwhile, the offense had it struggles from the field as well, finishing at 35.8 percent (19-of-53) and only 2-of-12 from long range. But the Rams connected on 11-of-14 free throws to help their cause and edged Davidson on the glass, 41-39.

Fordham trailed 8-6 midway through the first half until back-to-back-to-back buckets from Davis, sophomore Asnate Fomina and Clark moved the Rams in front, 12-8, after 10 minutes of play. The run eventually became a 15-1 flurry, as a jumper from Davis with 5:17 remaining before halftime produced a 21-9 lead. Fordham would ultimately take a 25-15 advantage into halftime.

The lead grew to 20 points in the third quarter, with the Rams outscoring the Wildcats, 18-10, before Fordham entered the final stanza leading, 43-25. Davidson held a 15-8 advantage in the fourth quarter and was able to slice the deficit to 10 twice, but it was not nearly enough, as the Rams were able to clinch the conference opener, 51-40, to hold its opponent to less than 50 points in three of the last four games and for the fifth time this season, resulting in five victories.
 
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 1,058 career points, which ranks 16th, but only needs five more to move into 15th place on the all-time list. Clark also recently grabbed her 700th career rebound and now has 772 for her career, which also ranks fourth all-time at Fordham. She needs 21 more to move into third place.
 
MISSRY AT THIRD: Junior Hannah Missry now has 203 career three's, which now ranks third on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs 34 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 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 five games, allowing only 49.0 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. Nationally, the Rams rank 51st in scoring defense (56.6).
 
ATLANTIC 10 OPENERS: The Rams began their 21st season of Atlantic 10 play Saturday, and with the win over Davidson, Fordham moved to 6-15 all time in conference openers along with claiming its fourth in a row. Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley is 4-1 in such contests with the Rams.
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 13th in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (3.00), eighth in total made 3's (42) & 56th in
3-PT FG % (.412). She leads the Atlantic 10 in all three categories. Missry is also 66th in the nation in minutes played (480:00) and 122nd in minutes played per game (34.29).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 24th in minutes played (508:00), 28th in double-doubles (six), 30th in minutes played per game (36.29), 37th in field goal percentage (.554) and 55th in total rebounds (123).
 
SPEAKING OF DOUBLE-DOUBLES...: Senior Samantha Clark collected her fifth double-double of the season when she scored 10 points and grabbed a season-high 13 boards in the win over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and then recorded her sixth with a 12-point, 13-rebound effort in the win over Davidson.
 
DAVIS DOMINATES DAVIDSON: Sophomore G'mrice Davis poured in a career-high 21 points and tied a career high in rebounds with 10 (for the fifth time and fourth this season) while sinking 9-of-10 free throws in the win over Davidson.

UP NEXT: The Rams continue their conference road swing when they travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. Sunday, Jan. 9 for a national-televised contest on CBS Sports Network at Duquesne, who is receiving votes in both national polls. Tipoff is slated for Noon.