RICHMOND, Va. -- The Fordham women's basketball team was unable to claim its first-ever victory at Richmond, as the Spiders held on for a 52-48 victory Wednesday evening in Atlantic 10 action inside the Robins Center. With the loss, the Rams fall to 12-14 (7-6 A10) on the season, while Richmond improves to 11-15 (4-9 A10) overall.
Fordham led 18-16 after an exciting opening quarter, which saw both teams shoot lights out from the floor. Junior
Danielle Burns scored all 12 of her points in the stanza on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Freshman
Lauren Holden knocked down a triple at the 5:43 mark of the second quarter to inch the advantage out to 21-18. Still leading by one at 22-21, the Rams saw the Spiders end the half on an 8-2 spurt to head into the locker room leading 29-24.
The home team stretched its lead out to 33-26 over the first three minutes of the third quarter, before back-to-back buckets from sophomores
G'mrice Davis and
Asnate Fomina trimmed the deficit to three. After Richmond moved back in front by seven, Davis tallied the next four points to once again make it a three-point game at 37-34 with 1:27 left in the stanza. However, a bucket by Richmond with nine seconds left gave the Spiders a 39-34 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
A triple from Fomina to start the fourth quarter made it a two-point contest, and a layup from Davis with 4:16 remaining brought Fordham to within one at 43-42. The Rams, however, could not get a key stop, as they would cut the deficit to one two more times, with the last coming at 47-46 with 2:00 to go when senior
Samantha Clark scored on a layup.
The Spiders responded with a three-pointer on their next possession and never looked back. Fordham had multiple chances to score but could not find the bottom of the net until Clark made a layup with 0.9 seconds left to make the final score 52-48.
Fordham shot 47.6 percent over the first 20 minutes but below 30 percent in the second half to finish at 34.5 percent (20-of-58). The Rams also struggled from distance, making just 5-of-22, while only going to the free throw line four times (3-of-4). The Spiders made 40 percent (20-of-50) of their baskets, sunk 5-of-6 from distance and converted 7-of-9 free throws.
Fordham also dominated the glass by winning the rebounding battle. 44-25, including 17-4 on the offensive end, which resulted in a 20-0 advantage in second-chance points. The Rams though did turn the ball over 14 times, while the Spiders gave it up only six.
Davis collected her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, while Burns also finished with 12 points and two steals. Clark added 12 rebounds, six points, four assists and two blocks, as she played all 40 minutes for the ninth time this season.
Bria Powell, Micaela Parson and Alicia Hudalla all scored 10 points for Richmond, and Parson just missed a double-double with nine rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals.
Fordham returns to action this Sunday, Feb. 21 when the Rams welcome Saint Louis for a 2 p.m. contest inside the Rose Hill Gym.
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