Women's Basketball Burned in Final Seconds of 51-49 Loss to Saint Louis

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BRONX, N.Y. -- Sophomore Asnate Fomina's potential game-tying runner off the glass rimmed in and out at the buzzer, and the Fordham women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Saint Louis, 51-49, in Atlantic 10 play Sunday on Senior Day inside the Rose Hill Gym. With the loss the Rams fall to 12-15 (7-7 A10) on the season, while the Billikens improve to 21-6 (11-3 A10) overall.

Saint Louis retook the lead, the sixth change of the game, with 2.2 seconds left when Jackie Kemph drove left and knocked down the game-winning jumper off the glass. Fordham then called timeout to advance the ball past half court and set up the one last play.

The Rams tied the contest at 49-49 with 1:28 remaining when senior Samantha Clark used a quick touch pass out of the post to find junior Danielle Padovano for a triple from the left wing.

The Billikens led 41-37 entering the final quarter and increased their lead out to eight, 47-39, at the 4:55 mark after tallying six straight points to force Fordham to call a 30-sec timeout. The Rams responded with back-to-back three's from junior Danielle Burns and Padovano to climb back to within two with 2:48 remaining.

Clark was fouled with 2:16 to go and knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to cut the deficit to 47-46, before Saint Louis scored on its next possession to go back up by three.

After Padovano's trey ball tied it, the Ram defense forced a stop and then had to deal with a jump ball call favoring the Billikens. Once Fordham made a second stop, the Rams had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Clark was given the opportunity with 22 ticks left and missed a layup on a no call, which set up the game-winning possession for Saint Louis.

Fordham trailed 18-12 after the first 10 minutes but outscored the Billikens, 18-6, to lead 28-26 at halftime. Saint Louis then answered in the third quarter by using a 15-9 advantage.

The defense held the Billikens to 20 points below their season average, as the visitors finished the game shooting 41.5 percent (22-of-53) and just 3-of-11 from distance. The Rams finished at 36.0 percent (18-of-50) and knocked down 8-of-23 from behind the arc. Saint Louis also won the battle on the glass, 37-28.

Burns and freshman Lauren Holden both had 12 points to pace Fordham in scoring, while Clark collected her 12th double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with a team-best four assists and a game-high two blocks while playing all 40 minutes for the tenth time this season. Sophomore G'mrice Davis just missed a double-double as well with eight points and nine rebounds.

Clark also became the third player in program history to score 1,000 points and register 900 career rebounds, and the tenth player to score 1,200 career points, as she now sits at 1,202 points and 903 rebounds.
Kemph led the Billikens with 21 points and six assists, while Jenny Vliet added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Fordham returns to action this Wednesday, Feb. 24 when the Rams play their final home game of the regular season when they host St. Bonaventure inside the Rose Hill Gym at 7 p.m.