Women's Basketball Hosts Albany on Tuesday Night

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (2-1) hosts the Albany Great Danes (2-2) on Tuesday night after wrapping up its debut appearance in the Preseason WNIT. It'll be just the one midweek nonconference contest for the Rams before heading down to Miami to compete in the Hurricanes' Thanksgiving Tournament over the weekend.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams wrapped up their maiden Preseason WNIT appearance with a 22-point victory over Little Rock, 65-43, on Saturday afternoon. The Rams were led by junior forward G'mrice Davis' first double-double of the young season; Davis piled up 19 points (matching a career-best eight field goals), 10 rebounds, and added two blocks and two steals over a team-high 31 minutes.
 
Fresh off a date with #1 Notre Dame last Monday night, in which the Rams held the Fighting Irish under 67 points at home for just the 22nd second time in the last decade, Fordham defeated the predicted preseason Sun Belt runners-up in the Bronx by 22 points. Davis capped off an impressive week with her aforementioned double-double, while redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina flirted with a triple double, posting nine points along with career-highs of nine rebounds, six assists in 27 minutes before fouling out. The Rams outscored Little Rock, 43-10, in the first and third quarters. Sophomore Lauren Holden scored 10 points with two three-pointers, while the two remaining starters, Danielle Burns and Hannah Missry struggled from the field for a combined seven points and one field goal. Newcomers Mary Goulding and Anna Kelly came off the bench for seven points and at least one steal apiece, two for Kelly, while redshirt junior Tiffany Suarez made her long-awaited Fordham debut with two points and an assist in nine fourth quarter minutes.
 
Series History vs. Albany
This will be the fifth time these schools have met. Fordham holds a 3-1 advantage since the first meeting in 2009. The Rams and Great Danes last met on November 9, 2012, the second contest of Fordham's regular season, when the Rams won, 60-43, led by Erin Rooney's 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Arielle Collins had 14 points with four threes, while Emily Tapio finished with nine points and a then-career-high 11 boards.
 
Scouting the Great Danes
Albany were selected as the preseason favorites to win the America East for the fifth consecutive season by the league's coaches, a given given the team's five consecutive America East championships. The Great Danes received five of eight first-place votes after going 28-5 overall and 15-1 in conference play last year. Albany is ranked #14 in College Insider's Mid-Major Top 25.
 
The Great Danes have lost reigning America East Player of the Year and much-decorated guard Sheeresha Richards but retained Imani Tate, an America East All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive team selection a year ago and the league's sixth player of the year, Tiana-Jo Carter. Tate has been predicted to repeat as a member of the First Team.
 
Albany enters Tuesday's contest with a 2-2 record and on a two-game winning streak. The Great Danes took part in the Kentucky Classic and lost to both the hosts in their season opener and against Miami over back-to-back days. Albany has since rebounded with two home victories, a six-point win over Army and a 15-point win over Boston University.
 
The Great Danes are led by Tate, who has two 20+ scoring games, and Jessica Féquière who notched a career-high 18 points against Army. Heather Forster, who has started three of the team's four games, is the younger sister of Julie, who had a double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds the last time these two schools met, a 60-43 Fordham win in 2012.
 
Gaitley Hits 100
With the win over Little Rock on Saturday, Stephanie Gaitley has reached 100 wins with the Fordham program. This marks the third school the 31-year veteran head coach has reached the century mark, plus four with at least 95 wins. Gaitley has previously reached the milestone with Richmond and Saint Joseph's, plus garnered 95 wins with LIU Brooklyn, the first three schools she coached at. Her most at a single stop was 196 over a decade with the Hawks. 16 more wins and Gaitley will become the all-time winningest head coach in Fordham history.
 
564 and Counting
Stephanie Gaitley, among active coaches, has the 21st-most career wins in Division I, with 564 after Saturday's win over Little Rock. All-time, the 31-year veteran coach is 42nd.
 
100 Straight For Burns
Senior Danielle Burns played in her 100th straight game in maroon and white on Saturday against Little Rock. Burns hasn't missed a single contest since arriving in the Bronx, making 48 starts. Fellow seniors Hannah Missry and Danielle Padovano are three and seven appearances away from the same milestone.
 
97 To Go
Hannah Missry is 97 three-pointers away from breaking Jessica Jenkins' all-time Atlantic 10 record of 338 threes set at St. Bonaventure from 2009-12. Missry recently passed Andrea Hoover (Dayton 2012-15) for 12th-most all-time. Seven more for the senior and she will tie April Robinson's recently-set mark of 249 (Duquesne 2013-16), and seven more after that and Missry will join both Amra Mehmedic (Saint Joseph's 2001-04) and Erin Shields (Saint Joseph's 2011-14) in the top-10. Missry has averaged 79.7 three's over her three seasons in the Bronx.
 
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.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Fordham has held its opponents to less than 50 points 32 times resulting in 32 victories. Under Gaitley, Fordham is 42-4 in such instances and have now won 33 straight with the most recent win over Little Rock, limiting the Trojans to 43 points. The Rams are 2-0 this season holding opponents under 50 points.
 
Fordham Debuts
Three Rams made their debuts against Furman: redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina started and tallied 10 points and eight rebounds over a team-high 35 minutes, while Mary Goulding and Anna Kelly came off the bench for four and seven points, respectively. Goulding added four rebounds, an assist and a block in 19 minutes, while Kelly added two boards, an assist, and a steal in 11 minutes. Junior transfer Tiffany Suarez made her long-awaited Fordham debut against Little Rock, tallying two points and an assist in nine fourth quarter minutes against the Trojans on Saturday.
 
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 eight 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 faces Texas Tech for the second time in as many seasons on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. with the winner taking on the winner of Miami and Grambling State on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.