Women's Basketball Edges Princeton, 57-55

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team overcame a sluggish start and withstood a late rally to knock off Princeton, 57-55, inside the Rose Hill Gym on Saturday afternoon, the first of a six-game homestand to round out nonconference play. Redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina led the way with a game-high and career-high 19 points. With the win, the Rams improve to 7-3 (1-0 A-10) on the season, while the Tigers fall to 4-5 overall.
 
"It was great to get the 'Princeton monkey' off our back," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "I'm really proud of being able to stay together through their runs and protecting our home court."
 
It was a hot-and-cold first quarter for the Rams as the Tigers surged ahead for a 16-12 lead at the break after shooting 8-of-16 from the field with just two turnovers. Fordham held a pair of leads, after an early Kreslina three and later a Holden trey. The freshman's came on the next offensive set following Hannah Missry's three-pointer, the 258^th of her career, which were the first two buckets of the game for the Rams. However, Fordham shot just 4-of-11 altogether in the first period with five turnovers.
 
Princeton's Tia Weledji hit a jumper on the team's first possession of the second quarter to push the lead up to its largest, six, but Fordham was reinvigorated coming out of the break and rattled off a 8-0 run over the next four minutes to take its first lead, 20-18, on an Anna Kelly make following a Mary Goulding steal. The Tigers roared back with three straight buckets on the next three possessions to take a four-point lead, 24-20, but Holden knocked down her second trey of the afternoon to stop the bleeding and she was followed by back-to-back jumpers from Kreslina and Tiffany Suarez off the bench for a quick 7-0 run to make it 27-24 Fordham. Sydney Jordan and Weledji each scored around a Danielle Burns jumper and Fordham went into halftime with a one-point lead, 29-28. The Rams ended the second half on a 9-6 run where they shot 4-of-5 from the floor.  
 
Leslie Robinson gave her team the lead with a mid-range look to start the second half but the lead was brief and it would be the last of the day for the visitors. For the remainder of the third quarter, Fordham enjoyed an 18-6 run, holding the Tigers to just 2-of-11 shooting and three turnovers. Kreslina added six points during those eight minutes, kicking things off with a jumper, adding a free throw, and canning her second long-range attempt. Four others got in on the scoring. The run ended with two Burns free throws to push the lead briefly to double digits for the first and only time of the game, 47-36.
 
Princeton made a game of it in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Rams, 19-10, in the frame and shooting 8-of-14 from the field. The Tigers got the lead down to one on two occasions but clutch free throws from G'mrice Davis and Kreslina extended the advantage and stingy defense down the stretch helped the Rams walk out with the win. Princeton started off with a 9-2 run over the first five minutes and kept the pressure up. Fordham didn't have a field goal over the final 4:38 of the quarter, instead making 6-of-8 free throws.
 
With a four-point lead, Bella Alarie got to the line for two free throws and missed both. However, Kreslina's lane violation allowed her to retake her second and Alarie didn't miss. A scoreless two minutes followed until Kreslina made one free throw of her own with 1:57 to play, setting a new career-best in the process with 16 points. Vanessa Smith hit a layup 40 seconds later and after Kreslina canned another pair of freebies, Gabrielle Rush took and hit a wild, off-balance three deep on the far wing to cut the deficit to just one. G'mrice Davis was fouled immediately but nailed two clutch free throws with 29 seconds to play. Smith again found space down low for a layup with 18 seconds to play, 56-55, and Kreslina was fouled to put the freshman at the line. The Latvian guard missed her second and the Tigers raced down the court. After some initial confusion at the top of the key, Weledji drove to the rim with just two seconds to go but her shot caromed off the back of the hoop to seal the victory for Fordham.
 
Kreslina finished with her new aforementioned career-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 shooting from the line, adding three rebounds in 31 minutes. Lauren Holden again was in double figures with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting while playing all 40 minutes. Junior forward G'mrice Davis chipped in seven points and pulled down 15 rebounds over 32 minutes.  After starting the season 8-for-16 from the charity stripe, Davis has been solid over her last four games, missing just two of her last 18 attempts, including 5-of-6 today.
 
Danielle Burns and Hannah Missry struggled with their shot on the day, shooting a combined 5-of-19 from the floor to finish with eight and six points, respectively. Tiffany Suarez added four points in 10 minutes off the bench and Mary Goulding was a sparkplug, especially in the first half, finishing with two rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 15 total minutes.
 
Fordham's conference-leading perimeter defense once again thrived, limiting a dangerous three-point shooting Princeton offense to just 3-of-14 from downtown on the afternoon. The Tigers didn't make their first three until the third quarter and entered the contest shooting 33.5% as a team (56-of-170) from deep.
 
Princeton and Fordham each shot 39% from the field and the Rams, too, struggled a bit from beyond the arc, hitting just 6-of-21 shots (28.6%). However, Fordham attempted 20 free throws, two off the season-high, and made 15 of them. Princeton outrebounded the Rams, 36-33, especially on the offensive glass, 14-9.
 
The Rams improve to 6-0 this season in the Bronx.
 
Fordham looks ahead to Tuesday night's match-up with St. John's in the Bronx. That game against the Red Storm begins at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network and WFUV.