Women's Basketball Searches for First-Ever Victory at Richmond Wednesday

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RICHMOND, Va. -- The fifth-place Fordham women's basketball team (12-13, 7-5 A10) looks to win five out of six in conference play when the Rams return to Richmond to take on 12th-place Richmond (10-15, 3-9 A10) Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside the Robins Center. Fans can watch the game online on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV. The contest will also mark Richmond's Play 4Kay game, and it will be the fourth straight breast cancer awareness contest for the Rams, who hosted theirs Saturday against La Salle.
 
SCOUTING RICHMOND: The Spiders, who were projected to finish in sixth place in the Atlantic 10, sit in 12th place in the conference standings after snapping a six-game losing streak with a 62-50 home victory over rival VCU Sunday. Richmond also have league wins over La Salle (60-43) and Massachusetts (74-68), but the Spiders have lost their nine conference games by an average of 14.4 points per game, including seven by double digts and three by over 20 points. Janelle Hubbard, a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Preseason selection, leads Richmond in scoring at 15.5 points per game and has knocked down a team-best 35 triples. Micaela Parson adds 12.2 points per game and team highs of 79 assists and 41 steals, while Karleigh Wike pulls down a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 20 rejections.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting will be the 18th in the series, which dates back to Nov. 25, 1988 when the Spiders won, 61-55, in the season opener at the Georgia Tech Tournament in Atlanta, Ga. when Rams' head coach Stephanie Gaitley was the leader of the Spiders, who hold a 12-5 advantage in the all-time series. Speaking of Gaitley, the Rams are 4-2 against Richmond with her at the controls, including a thrilling 65-64 overtime victory back in the 2014-15 conference opener inside the Rose Hill Gym Jan. 4, 2015 when then sophomore Danielle Padovano sunk the game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left, before Fordham squeaked out a 46-45 win in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament March 6, 2015 in Richmond. The Rams have never won on the campus of Richmond (0-7) and are looking to end that skid Wednesday.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Rams used a strong second second-half surge to defeat La Salle, 54-44, Saturday in Atlantic 10 action inside the Rose Hill Gym. Saturday was also the Rams' Play 4Kay game, which is played throughout college basketball for breast cancer awareness. In support of the cause, the team donned pink uniforms. Three players scored in double figures for Fordham, with junior Danielle Burns leading the way with 19 points and seven rebounds. Senior Samantha Clark collected her 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with three assists and three blocks while playing all 40 minutes. Junior Danielle Padovano stepped up as well in a rare starting role, as she nearly recorded her first career double-double with a season-high 10 points, a career-high eight rebounds, a career-best three assists and two steals over a career-high 36 minutes of play.

The Rams led by as six in the opening stanza, before leading 12-10 after the first 10 minutes of play. Six straight points from the Rams to start the second quarter opened up an eight-point advantage at 18-10. After the visitors sliced the deficit to five, an old-fashion three-point play from Burns navigated the lead back out to eight, 25-17, at the 3:41 mark. La Salle then made a move and scored the final 10 points of the half to go into the break leading 27-25.

The lead switched four times to begin the third quarter, before the Explorers took their largest lead of the contest, 33-30. However, it was all Fordham after that, as a three-point play from Clark triggered 11 unanswered for the home team, which was capped by back-to-back triples from junior Hannah Missry and Burns.

The run eventually stretched into an 18-2 spurt, with a layup from Clark producing a 48-35 lead with 5:23 left in the game. The Rams were never threated after and cruised to the 10-point victory. The defensive effort in the second half helped Fordham limit La Salle to just 17 points after the break, and it was also the first victory of the season for the Rams when they were trailing at halftime. Overall, Fordham held the Explorers to 30.5 percent shooting, including 7-of-27 in the second half, while forcing 16 turnovers.

The Rams finished the game shooting 36.7 percent (22-of-60), including 6-of-18 from distance, and won the rebounding battle, 41-38.
 
PADOVANO NOMINATED FOR 2016 ALLSTATE WBCA GOOD WORKS TEAM®: Junior Danielle Padovano was selected as one of 257 total nominees (an all-time high) for the 2016 Allstate WBCA and NABC Good Works Team®, it was announced Wednesday, Dec. 1 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Allstate Insurance Company. This distinguished award shines a spotlight on a select group of student-athletes who have shown dedication to community service and altruism in their communities. Padovano is the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). The student-athlete is recognized to be at the heart of the athletics program. The mission of SAAC is to assist in the creation of an environment where all athletes have the opportunity to maximize their academic, personal, and social growth and provide them with tools for a productive and satisfying life during and after college.
 
550: Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley recorded her 550th career victory in the win over Lafayette Nov. 24.
 
GAITLEY'S RICHMOND TIES: Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley began her coaching career at Richmond and coached the Spiders for six seasons beginning in 1985-86. After back-to-back losing seasons to start her tenure, Gaitley posted four consecutive 20-win seasons and capped her time at Richmond with back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships and NCAA Tournament appearances while leading the Spiders to the WNIT in 1989. Gaitley finished her career at Richmond with an overall record of 116-63, before leaving after the 1990-91 season to become the head coach at Saint Joseph's.
 
1,000-POINT/800 REBOUND CLUB: Senior Samantha Clark became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 points with her third-quarter layup with 30 seconds remaining in the stanza. She now has 1,185 career points to rank 10th on the all-time list and was the 15th player in program history to score 1,100 points. Clark also recently grabbed her 800th career rebound in the win over George Mason and now has 8881 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 231 career three's, which ranks second on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs three more to become the program's all-time leader.
 
DEFENSE DOMINATING: Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Fordham has held its opponents to less than 50 points 30 times resulting in 30 victories. The Rams are 40-4 in such instances under Coach Gaitley and have won 31 straight. This occurred 12 times last season and eight times this season with the victories over Manhattan, Lafayette, Central Connecticut, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, Davidson, Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island and La Salle.
 
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE: The Rams had been locking teams down defensively over the last 10 games prior to Davidson last time out, allowing only 50.6 points per game, including a season-best 40 points to Davidson and Saint Joseph's, the lowest such point total since Fordham yielded 36 in a 36-point victory at Central Connecticut Dec. 9, 2014. Over the 10-game stretch, the Rams only allowed 57 points or less in each contest. Nationally, the Rams rank 31st in scoring defense (55.9).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 23rd in minutes played (927:00), 33rd in double-doubles (11), 20th in minutes played per game (37.08), 36th in total rebounds (232) and 55th in rebounds per game (9.3).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 21st in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.80), 15th in total made 3's (70) and 71st in three-point field goal percentage (.376). Missry is also 62nd in the nation in minutes played (885:00) and 79th in minutes played per game (35.40).
 
OVER THE LAST FOUR GAMES...: Junior Danielle Burns is averaging 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field, including 6-of-13 from distance and 12-of-14 at the free throw line. She is also averaging 39.0 minutes per game over the sample. Burns is coming of a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds in the win over La Salle.
 
11: Senior Samantha Clark collected her 11th double-double of the season in the win over La Salle. She scored 17 points, grabbed a game-high 13 boards and posted team bests of three assists, three blocks and two steals, as she played all 40 minutes for the eighth time this season.
 
PADDLES STEPS UP: Junior Danielle Padovano made a rare appearance in the starting lineup in the win over La Salle and responded with a season-high 10 points and added career highs of eight rebounds and three assists in a career-best 36 minutes.
 
UP NEXT: The Rams return to the Rose Hill Gym to host Saint Louis this Sunday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. in the team's second-to-last home game of the season. Sunday will also mark Senior Day, as seniors Samantha Clark and Khadijah Gibson will be honored with a ceremony along with the two graduating managers before tipoff.