Photo GalleryBRONX, N.Y. --Â Junior
Danielle Burns poured in a career-high 31 points, including 18 in the second half, as the Fordham women's basketball team knocked of first-place George Washington, 76-69, Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 action inside the Rose Hill Gym. With the victory, the Rams improve to 10-12 (5-4 A10) on the season, while the Colonials see their 14-game win streak come to an end and fall to 19-4 (9-1 A10) overall.
Fordham led wire-to-wire, played only six players, and shot a season-best 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the field. The Rams connected on 55.6 percent (15-of-27) of their shots over the first 20 minutes and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) after halftime. They also knocked down 8-of-16 from three-point range and canned 16-of-24 free throws, including 13-of-16 in the second half.
The defense held George Washington to 37.5 percent shooting (27-of-72) and 6-of-18 from distance, while the visitors made 9-of-12 free throws. The Colonials held a 41-32 advantage on the glass, including a commanding 18-4 lead on the offensive boards, which helped lead to 24 more shot attempts and a 13-0 edge on second-chance points.
Fordham jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start the game and increased its advantage to 16-6 when Burns delivered her second triple of the quarter with 1:53 left in the stanza. She finished with 10 in the quarter, as Fordham led 16-8 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter saw George Washington crawl back to within four on two occasions, but a layup from sophomore
G'mrice Davis at the 5:05 mark started an 8-2 spurt, as a jumper from Burns stretched the lead back out to 10 at 31-21. After the visitors made it a six-point game, freshman
Lauren Holden drilled a three, and a free throw from Burns with eight seconds left produced a 37-27 halftime advantage.
The Colonials made a move in the third quarter by outscoring the Rams, 18-11. They eventually trimmed the Fordham lead to 46-45 with 1:40 remaining, before Burns scored on a layup with 11 seconds to go that gave the Rams a 48-45 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
George Washington tallied the first two points of the fourth quarter, but back-to-back three's from Burns increased the lead back out to seven at 54-47 with 8:20 remaining. The Colonials then made it a four-point contest, before senior
Samantha Clark drained two consecutive three's, which was followed by a pair of free throws from junior
Hannah Missry that once again made it a 10-point lead at 62-52 with 6:13 left.
The visitors were not done and fought back to within three at 64-61 with 2:41 to go, but Davis knocked down a jumper and Holden sunk two free throws to move the advantage back to seven at 68-61 with 45 ticks left.
George Washington stayed alive with a three-pointer that made it a four-point game with 23 seconds to go. But it was the closest the Colonials would come, as Missry knocked down two more free throws, and Burns sealed it with four straight to clinch the 76-69 victory.
Burns scored her 31 points on a career-high 11 field goals (on 14 attempts), while knocking down a career-best four triples (on six attempts). She also grabbed seven rebounds and shared team-high honors in assists with four. Davis added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and Clark chipped in 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes of action.
Lauren Chase paced George Washington with 18 points and a game-high eight assists. Kelli Prange added 12 points and seven boards, while Caira Washington chipped in 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Fordham returns to action Saturday, Feb. 6 when it travels to Amherst, Mass. to take on Massachusetts at 2 p.m. in conference play.
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