Women's Basketball Concludes Regular Season Sunday Evening at Dayton

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DAYTON, OHIO -- The sixth-place Fordham women's basketball team (13-15, 8-7 A10) concludes the regular season Sunday evening when it takes on  eighth-place Dayton (13-13, 6-9 A10) inside UD Arena at 5 p.m. on the American Sports Network, which will be Sports Net New York (SNY) in the New York City area. Fans can also watch the game for free online on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING DAYTON: The Flyers, who were picked to finish second in the conference after a historical season that saw them advance to the Elite Eight and lead #1 Connecticut at halftime, have been decimated with injuries this season and enter tonight's game on a four-game losing streak, which includes losses to George Washington (72-62), Massachusetts (76-69), Duquesne (76-72 OT) and Saint Louis (55-52). Before the streak, Dayton had won have in a row, which snapped a previous four-game skid. Five of the Flyers' nine league losses have been by five points or less as well. Jenna Burdette and Saicha Grant-Allen both lead the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game. Grant-Allen is also one of the top rebounders in the league averaging a team-high 8.7 boards per game, while Burdette is one of the better floor generals with 4.7 assists per game to lead Dayton.
                                                 
SERIES HISTORY: Sunday's meeting will be the 26th meeting in the series, with Dayton holding a 20-5 advantage. The series dates back to Jan. 18, 1996 when the Flyers won at home, 61-56. Fordham has only defeated Dayton once at UD Arena.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Senior Samantha Clark poured in a team-high 20 points, grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds and rejected a game-high three shots in her final home game inside the Rose Hill Gym, as the Fordham women's basketball team rallied from 14 points down in the second quarter to win going away against second-place St. Bonaventure, 77-68, Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 action.

Junior Hannah Missry added 13 points, and her four-point play at the 6:27 mark of the third quarter not only capped an 18-3 run to give Fordham a brief 42-41 lead, but the three-pointer was the 234th of her career, which is the most in program history passing Heather Donlon, who held the record of 233 for 23 years.

Sophomore Asnate Fomina came off the bench to net a career-high 14 points, junior Danielle Burns scored all 11 of her points in the decisive fourth quarter that saw the Rams outscore the visitors, 28-19, and freshman Lauren Holden added 10 points and four assists to round out five players scoring in double figures.

Clark, who played all 40 minutes for the 11th time this season, shot 8-of-10 from the field and made both of her three-point attempts, while Burns added four assists as well.

In a contest that featured the top two scoring defensive teams in the conference, a track meet broke out. Fordham jumped out to an early 10-4 lead over the first two minutes thanks to five points from Missry, a triple from Holden and a bucket from Clark. However, over the next five minutes, St. Bonaventure used a 17-2 run to take a nine-point lead, before stretching out its advantage to 26-15 with 1:39 left in the opening quarter. The Rams answered with two layups from Clark to go into the second stanza trailing, 26-19.

The Bonnies took their largest lead of the game, 38-24, with 7:15 remaining before halftime, but that was when Fordham would make its move. Fomina knocked down a trifecta, and Clark found junior Danielle Padovano, who nailed a three to bring the Rams to within nine. The trifecta started a half-ending 7-0 run that crawled Fordham to a halftime deficit of 41-36.

St. Bonaventure, who at one point was shooting 80 percent from the floor in the second quarter, shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) and made its first seven three-pointers to finish 7-of-8 over the first 20 minutes.

The Rams, though, would not be outdone, as they also shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) and 6-of-15 from distance. The one difference was the Bonnies made 4-of-6 free throws, while Fordham missed its only attempt.

Fordham stretched is run to 13-0 to start the second half, as Missry's record-breaking triple tied the game, before her free throw to complete the four-point play produced the Rams first lead since 10-9 at the 7:01 mark of the first quarter.

But St. Bonaventure quickly answered with six straight points to take a five-point advantage at 47-42 with 4:15 left in the frame. The Rams responded right back with seven in a row, as a three from Clark was sandwiched between four points from Fomina to navigate Fordham back in front, 49-47, before the Bonnies tied the contest at 49-49 entering the final 10 minutes.

St. Bonaventure drew first blood in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead, before Clark answered with her second three of the game. After the Bonnies tied the game at 52-52, Burns began to take the game over, as her bucket at the 8:52 mark gave the Rams the lead for good at 54-52.

After the Bonnies cut the deficit to three, Burns quickly increased the lead back out to six for the second time in the quarter with her only trifecta of the game, 63-57, with 5:21 remaining. St. Bonaventure then scored the next four, but Burns converted an old-fashion three-point play to move the Rams in front by five, 66-61, with 2:09 to go.

The visitors once again climbed back to within three on their next possession, but once again, Burns had the answer, as her second consecutive three-point play sunk the hopes of the Bonnies and produced a 69-63 lead with 1:34 left in the game. Over the final 76 seconds, Fordham drilled all eight of its free throw attempts to clinch the thrilling 77-68 victory. The 77 points is season high for the Rams, clipping their previous high of 76 set against George Washington earlier this month.

Fordham finished the game shooting 47.2 percent (25-of-53) and knocked down 10-of-27 from distance. But the Rams won the game at the free throw line, as they connected on 17-of-18, including all 17 attempts in the second half.

The defense held St. Bonaventure to under 40 percent (11-of-28) in the second half and only 3-of-8 from behind the arc. The Bonnies finished at 45.6 percent (26-of-57) and 10-of-16 from downtown, but they only made 6-of-11 from the charity stipe.

Fordham lost the rebounding battle, 33-30, but the Rams turned the ball over a season-low eight times. They forced nine turnovers and outscored St. Bonaventure, 15-7 on points off turnovers.
 
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/900 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 1,223 career points to rank ninth on the all-time list and was the 15th player in program history to score 1,100 points. Clark also grabbed her 900th career rebound against Saint Louis and now has 920 for her career, which ranks second all-time at Fordham. She is the third player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 900 career rebounds.
 
MISSRY IS #1: With her two triples against St. Bonaventure, junior Hannah Missry became the program's all-time leader in three-point field goals with 234, breaking a 23 year record.
 
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 33rd in scoring defense (55.0).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 12th in minutes played (1047:00), 23rd in double-doubles (13), 16th in minutes played per game (37.39), 22nd in total rebounds (271) and 36th in rebounds per game (9.7).
 
CLARK SAVES BEST FOR LAST AND COLLECTS #13: Senior Samantha Clark went out with a bang in her final home game inside the Rose Hill Gym. She collected her 13th double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with two assists and a game-high three blocks while playing all 40 minutes for the 11th time this season.
 
FOMINA FLASHES OFFENSE: Sophomore Asnate Fomina came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points to help the Rams defeat St. Bonaventure.
 
TRIPLES ALL OVER: The Rams tied a season high in made three's with 10 in the win over St. Bonaventure.
 
77 IS A NEW HIGH: The 77 points scored by the Rams against St. Bonaventure was a season high.
 
KNOCKING DOWN FINAL 17 TO FINISH 17-OF-18: The Rams missed their only free throw attempt in the first half against St. Bonaventure, but they made all 17 of their tries in the second half to shoot a season-best 94.4 percent from the line.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: The Rams tied a season-low with eight turnovers in the win over St. Bonaventure.
 
OVER THE LAST SEVEN GAMES...: Junior Danielle Burns is averaging 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 48.2 percent (41-of-85) from the field, including 11-of-25 from distance and 16-of-18 at the free throw line. She is also averaging 37.0 minutes per game over the sample.
 
UP NEXT: The Rams head to Richmond, Va. later this week to start the Atlantic 10 Tournament at the Richmond Coliseum. Fordham is locked in as the sixth seed and will find out later tonight who it will play Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m., which will be the winner of Wednesday's play-in game between the #11 and #14 seeds.