Women's Basketball Hosts Little Rock Saturday to Wrap Up Preseason WNIT

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (1-1) returns home after facing #1 Notre Dame on Monday night to host Little Rock (1-2) in the third and last game of the Rams' Preseason WNIT on Saturday at noon. The Trojans enter the match-up after defeating North Texas in their opening contest, falling at Green Bay to drop into the consolation bracket, plus a nonconference, non-tournament meeting at #16 Oklahoma on Wednesday evening.  
 
Last Time Out
Fordham acquitted themselves well against the number one team in the land, holding the hosts to under 40% shooting from the field and 50 points through the first three quarters. The Rams trailed by just eight after the first quarter and, after trailing by 14 at halftime, cut the deficit to single digits and outscored Notre Dame for nearly the entire third period until the hosts' third and-one of the quarter gave them a 13-12 advantage heading into the fourth. A 20-4 offensive explosion by the Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter sealed a 31-point victory.
 
Despite the solid defensive performance against one the nation's top offenses, the Rams could themselves only muster 23.1% from the field, finishing each half with exactly six field goals in 26 attempts.  Junior forward G'mrice Davis led the way with nine points, a career-high 15 rebounds, three assists, and four steals in a career-high matching 36 minutes. Fordham held reigning ACC Player and Defender of the Year Brianna Turner to 10 points in 28 minutes and didn't allow a single Irish player to eclipse 13 points scored.
 
Notre Dame has been held at 67 points or lower in just 21 home contests in the last 10 years, excluding Monday's contest, and have a 12-9 record in such contests. Last season, the Fighting Irish averaged over 80 points per game.
 
Series History
This is the first time the two schools have played one another. Interestingly, the Trojans have never played an opponent from the state of New York.
 
Scouting the Trojans
The Trojans are one of the up-and-coming mid-major programs in the country, having reached postseason play in eight of the last nine seasons, including four NCAA Tournament berths and four WNIT trips, and enjoying nine 20-win seasons in the last 10 years. Little Rock was picked to finish second in this year's preseason coaches' poll with 121 points, four shy of Troy, despite garnering the most first place votes, with five. Senior forward Kaitlyn Pratt was named Preseason First Team All-Conference and senior guard Sharde' Collins was named to the Second Team.
 
Collins is averaging 14.3 points through three games thanks to a 23-point outburst against the #16 Sooners on Wednesday. Monique Townson and Pratt follow with 9.7 and 9.3 points, respectively.
 
Pratt is one of Little Rock's all-time great frontcourt players, already third all-time with a .547 shooting percentage and fourth all-time with 238 offensive rebounds. Keanna Keys is right up there with her for efficiency, totaling a .506 field goal percentage over her career.
 
Like Fordham, the Trojans pride themselves on defense. Little Rock had the 24th-best scoring defense in the land last season, holding opponents to just 55.5 points per game.
 
G Grabs Career-High 15 Boards
Junior forward G'mrice Davis racked up a career-high 15 rebounds at #1 Notre Dame on Monday night while matching her career-high 36 minutes played. Davis picked up her fourth foul late in third quarter but still played the majority of the fourth period. Davis also led the team with nine points, three assists, and four steals, the latter of which was one short of her previous career-high.
 
New Faces
There are six players new to the Fordham program and three of them made their debuts against Furman. Kate Kreslinda, who redshirted last year, entered the starting lineup and played a team-high 35 minutes while tallying 10 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore transfer Mary Goulding and freshman Anna Kelly came off the bench and totaled four and seven points, respectively. Transfers Nicole Floyd and Tiffany Suarez are currently out with injury, while freshman Breanna Cavanaugh is also out.
 
Five Sign NLIs in 2016-17 Recruiting Class
Coach Gaitley announced this past week the additions of five student-athletes  to national letters of intent: Halei Gillis, Kendell Heremaia, Zara Jillings, Ralene Kwiatkowski, and Vilisi Tavui. Fordham's global reach under Coach Gaitley continues with two players from North Carolina, two from New Zealand, and one from Fiji. The three international players all have experience playing within their countries' junior ranks.
 
You can read all about the five additions here.
 
Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
The Fordham Rams were selected to finish sixth in the annual preseason coaches' poll, announced at A-10 Media Day, held in Richmond, Va., the site of the 2017 A-10 Championship. The Rams finished last season tied for sixth, with an 8-8 conference record, and reached the second round of the conference postseason. Saint Louis, who tied for last year's regular season title and reached the third round of the WNIT, garnered nine first-place votes. Dayton and last year's runner-up Duquesne tied for second in the poll with 166 points apiece, with the latter receiving three first-place votes. Two-time defending champion, George Washington, gathered the remaining two first-place votes and is predicted to finish fourth. Following the Colonials are VCU, Fordham, Richmond, and Saint Joseph's to round out the top eight. Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, George Mason, La Salle, Davidson, and Massachusetts rounded out the preseason rankings, respectively.
 
2015-16 Season Review
The Rams finished last season 14-17 and 8-8 in conference play, defeating Massachusetts in overtime in the first round of the A-10 Championship but falling to eventual runner-up Duquesne in the next round. New Director of Player Development Samantha Clark was named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 as well as to the All-Defensive Team after a fantastic senior campaign where she led the squad with 12.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, also chipping in a team-high 36 blocks and 30 steals. Clark led the A-10 in minutes played per contest (37.2). Fordham will return the other four starters from last season, with three of them averaging between nine and 10 points per game. Junior G'mrice Davis tallied 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per contests with 10 blocks and 21 steals during a solid sophomore season, while Danielle Burns scored 9.6 points per game on 39.8% shooting from the field and led the team with 76 assists. Hannah Missry continued her volume three-point shooting and set the school record for most career long-range makes as a junior, finishing the year with 239. She has averaged 79 threes over her three seasons but will need 100 to break the A-10 career record. Sophomore Lauren Holden solidified her spot as the team's starting point guard as a freshman by averaging 6.3 points per game with 55 assists and 35% shooting from deep, good for third-best on the team. Danielle Padovano and Asnate Fomina were both vital cogs in the rotation off the bench, scoring 4.5 and 4.1 points per game, respectively, while also joining the starting lineup a combined 16 times last season.
 
Fordham WBB Ticket Plans
Two women's ticket options are available:
Flex Plan: $35 for 15 tickets
Community Partner: $100 for 50 tickets
 
With the flex plan option, fans receive 15 ticket vouchers good for use at any Fordham women's basketball game, plus a special Fordham scarf. As a community partner, you also have the opportunity to provide 50 tickets to a group of your choice.

The Rams have nine remaining out-of-conference match-ups within the Rose Hill Gym and seven in Atlantic 10 play, including one nationally televised home contest – the home season finale against Dayton on February 19.
 
You can purchase single game tickets for all home contests here.
 
Up Next
Fordham has nine nonconference contests out of 12 at home over the next six weeks, starting with Albany on Tuesday night, November 22, at 7 p.m. After that, though, the Rams will be spending Thanksgiving down in Miami for two games against Texas Tech and either the Hurricanes or Grambling State.