Women's Basketball Falls to Texas Tech

Box Score

Coral Gables, Fla. – The Fordham women's basketball team held one of the Big 12's top offensive units to just 20 points in the first half and 58 overall, but ultimately fell, 58-50, in the opening contest of the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday afternoon. Junior forward G'mrice Davis tallied a big double-double: 14 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, a block and two steals over a career-best 37 minutes.
 
"We played a solid defensive game against an explosive Texas Tech team," head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "We are going to be a very dangerous team when we shoot the ball well."
 
Fordham put up its best rebounding numbers of the year thus far, with 18 offensive rebounds among 40 total boards. The Rams also committed just nine turnovers. However, poor percentages across the board contributed to the result.
 
The Rams were all over the glass to begin the game, corralling six offensive rebounds in the first five minutes alone, but were unable to capitalize, which became a theme for much of the contest. Davis finished with seven rebounds in the first period. Fordham's defense was stout in the first half, holding the Lady Raiders to just 28.6% shooting from the floor in the first quarter and 31% over the first half, but the Rams themselves could only muster eight fields on 22% shooting overall.
 
Fordham outscored the Lady Raiders, 14-12, in the second quarter to take an overall 21-20 lead into the halftime break. Hannah Missry and reigning Big 12 Rookie of the Week Arella Guirantes traded threes to begin the period and the two teams traded blows. Guirantes would score 10 straight points before Larryn Brooks' jumper gave the Lady Raiders their final bucket of the half. Danielle Padovano season-high six points came on her two three-point attempts in the frame and were the most among her teammates. Eight different Rams got on the board in the first half.
 
The second half was unlike the first as shots fell and the team's took better care of the ball. Freshman Kate Kreslina got her team on the board first with a layup and Davis got the lead back to three after a Ivonne CookTaylor bucket, but Texas Tech went on a 7-0 run to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish. That lead would never extend beyond seven as Fordham held them within striking distance but couldn't usurp the Lady Raiders on the scoreboard. The Rams had 15 points on 50% shooting in the quarter but Texas Tech shot 64.3% and put up 21.
 
Where Guirantes was the Lady Raiders' main threat in the first half, with 10 points and seven rebounds, Jada Terry was Fordham's biggest trouble down low in the second stanza; Terry had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Fordham cut the lead down to three on several occasions in the fourth quarter but couldn't get over the hump thereafter. Davis came alive in the second half with 12 points and five rebounds of her own and the Rams varied attack continued with seven different players getting on the board.

Fordham held one of the top scorers in the country, Recee Caldwell, who came into the game averaging 26.0 points per game, to just two field goals and six points on the day. However it was Guirantes, Terry, and CookTaylor who did the damage for Texas Tech, all putting up a double-double.
 
Kate Kreslina, Padovano, and Missry each had six points, the latter making it five straight games with at least one long-range make to open the season. Kreslina shared a team-high with 13 shots Lauren Holden fouled out but finished with an efficient five points in 24 minutes, continuing to find herself among the A-10's leaders in field goal percentage. Asnate Fomina also finished with five points and matched a career-high with five rebounds, something she last did a year ago in Las Vegas against the Lady Raiders. Senior Danielle Burns, who entered the game as the team's leading scorer, was held scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting from the field, with two boards and two steals in 22 minutes. Junior transfer Tiffany Suarez, playing in front of friends and family, scored a season-high six points on 3-of-5 shooting and corralled five rebounds and assisted on two scores, all-season-highs, as well.
 
The Rams are back in action Sunday and will be the home team against Grambling State. The first-ever meeting between the two schools will begin at 2 p.m. or shortly thereafter depending on the early contest. The game can be found live on wfuvsports.org.