Sunday is Senior Day for Women's Basketball

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The sixth-place Fordham women's basketball team (12-14, 7-6 A10) looks to bounce back from a difficult loss last time out when the Rams welcome third-place Saint Louis (20-6, 10-3 A10) to the Rose Hill Gym Sunday at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game for free online on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV. The contest is also Senior Day for the Rams, as seniors Samantha Clark and Khadijah Gibson will be honored before the game.
 
SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS: The Billikens, who were projected to finish in fifth place in the Atlantic 10, currently sit in a tie for third place in the conference standings and are coming off an 84-81 victory over first-place Duquesne last time out. After dropping its first conference game of the season in overtime at George Mason, Saint Louis rattled off seven straight wins before losing by nine at George Washington. The Billikens also started the year on a seven-game win streak and won nine out of their first 10 games. Jackie Kemph paces Saint Louis with 16.1 points and 7.2 assists per game while knocking down a team-best 33 triple. Sadie Stipanovich adds 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Jamesia Price chips in 9.0 points, 80 assists, a team-high 53 steals and 33 made three's.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting will be the 13th in the all-time series, which is all tied at 6-6 after the Billikens snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rams in a 54-50 victory Jan. 24, 2015 in St. Louis. The series started Feb. 26, 2006 when Fordham claimed a 70-58 victory inside the Rose Hill Gym.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Rams were 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. 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.
 
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.
 
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 grabbed her 800th career rebound in the win over George Mason and now has 893 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 232 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 (55.7).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 17th in minutes played (967:00), 33rd in double-doubles (11), 19th in minutes played per game (37.19), 28th in total rebounds (244) and 47th in rebounds per game (9.4).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 23rd in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.73), 17th in total made 3's (71) and 73rd in three-point field goal percentage (.374). Missry is also 62nd in the nation in minutes played (915:00) and 90th in minutes played per game (35.19).
 
OVER THE LAST FIVE GAMES...: Junior Danielle Burns is averaging 17.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 49.3 percent (33-of-67) from the field, including 8-of-17 from distance and 12-of-14 at the free throw line. She is also averaging 37.6 minutes per game over the sample. Burns is coming of a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds in the win over La Salle and a 12-point first quarter performance at Richmond.
 
12 &14 = 6: Sophomore G'mrice Davis scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to collect her sixth double-double of the season in the loss at Richmond.
 
 UP NEXT: The Rams officially play their final home game of the regular season this Wednesday, Feb. 24 when they welcome St. Bonaventure to the Rose Hill Gym for a 7 p.m. contest.