Women's Basketball Wraps Up WNIT with 65-43 Win Over Little Rock

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Bronx, N.Y. – Outside of a stagnant and sluggish second quarter, the Fordham women's basketball team controlled its Preseason WNIT consolation match-up with Little Rock on Saturday afternoon, dropping the Trojans, 65-43, with an excellent all-around effort on both ends of the court for head coach Stephanie Gaitley's 100^th victory with the Rams.
 
"I am really proud of our team effort today," Gaitley said, "'G' set the tone early for us and collectively everyone contributed for a great team win."
 
Junior forward G'mrice Davis tallied her first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds, adding an assist, block, and pair of steals over a team-high 31 minutes, also matching a career-high eight field goals. Redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina, making her third straight start, flirted with a triple-double on the night, finishing with nine points, including her first two long-range makes, plus career-highs of nine rebounds and six assists over 27 minutes, second-most on the night.
 
It was all Fordham in the first quarter, outscoring the visitors, 19-2, until a late Monique Townson jumper with 18 seconds left got Little Rock on the board for the first time in nearly seven minutes. During that run, the Rams shot 7-of-12 from the field with six players getting on the scoresheet, while holding Little Rock to 1-of-9 from the floor with nine turnovers.
 
What worked for Fordham in the first quarter went against them in the next frame, as they could only muster six points on 2-of-8 shooting and four of those points coming in the final two minutes. Little Rock took care of the ball, committing just one turnover, and made five-of-10 from the floor. An Anna Hurlburt layup with 2:41 remaining in the half brought the Trojans to within four but Danielle Padovano's free throws, coming after the senior fought for an offensive rebound and was fouled going back up, and a Davis layup got Fordham back up to an eight-point advantage heading into halftime, 25-17.
 
Similar to the first quarter, the Rams came right out of the gate and went on a big run, this time a 24-6 third quarter that extended their lead to 26 following freshman Anna Kelly's and-one at the end of the frame. Fordham missed just one of seven shots from the floor, a three-point attempt, and made all 10 free throws, allowing just six points on 3-of-12 shooting with three Trojan turnovers. Sophomore Lauren Holden scored seven of her 10 points in the quarter, coming on a jumper, a three, and two free throws.
 
Fordham held a 9-7 advantage over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter and had its lead up at 28 again before Little Rock finished with a little 13-7 flourish in which leading scorer Sharde' Collins tallied eight of her 15 points. The 20-plus point margin allowed junior transfer Tiffany Suarez to make her long-awaited Fordham debut, with the Miami native canning her first field goal, a mid-range jumper after faking out her defender, and also assisting on Kreslina's second three-pointer of the game.
 
Both Mary Goulding and Kelly notched seven points and at least one steal, two for Kelly, off the bench. Starters Danielle Burns and Hannah Missry were held to season-lows of four and three points, respectively.
 
On her 100^th victory, Gaitley remarked, "Anytime you hit an individual milestone it really is a testament to all the coaches, players, and administration who have helped you reach that accomplishment – and so I want to thank all of them!"
 
The Rams remain in the Bronx for their next game, hosting Albany on Tuesday night, November 22, at 7 p.m. before flying down to Miami the following day. Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on the A-10 Digital Network and WFUVSports.org.