Women's Basketball Looks to Keep Momentum Going at Massachusetts Saturday

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The fifth-place Fordham women's basketball team (10-12, 5-4 A10) looks to win a third consecutive Atlantic 10 contest when the Rams travel to last-place Massachusetts (6-15, 0-3 A10) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. inside the Mullins Center. Fans can watch the game on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV.
 
SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS: The Minutewomen, who were picked to finish 13th in the conference, sit in a tie for dead last in the league and have not won a game in nine tries. Before Atlantic 10 play started, UMass had won three straight games. Six of the Minutewomen's conference losses have come by less than 10 points, and UMass is coming off a nine-point overtime loss at second-place Duquesne, who is now 20-2. Cierra Dillard leads the Minutewomen in scoring at 13.5 points per game along with steals (45) and made three's (33). Bria Stallworth adds 13.0 points and a team-high 79 assists; Alyssa Lawrence tallies 9.3 points per game and shares team-high honors in blocks (21) with Rashida Timbilla, who chips in 7.9 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game, the second best in the Atlantic 10.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's meeting will be the 37th in the series, which dates back to Feb. 29, 1980, an 81-63 Fordham victory inside the Rose Hill Gym. The Rams have won the last six in the series and are 5-0 under Coach Gaitley. The Minutewomen's last victory against the Rams came Feb. 6, 2010 in a 58-45 home win.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Junior Danielle Burns poured in a career-high 31 points, including 18 in the second half, as the Rams knocked off first-place George Washington, 76-69, Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 action inside the Rose Hill Gym. 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.
 
FORDHAM TO HOST NEW YORK LIBERTY YOUTH BASKETBALL CLINIC FEBRUARY 13: Fordham Athletics is proud to announce the third in a series of women's basketball clinics this season. This one, which is slated for Saturday, Feb. 13, will be conducted by the New York Liberty beginning at 12 p.m. Registration will take place from 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Tipoff between the Rams and La Salle is at 2 p.m. and all clinic participants will receive a ticket to the game. Those interested in participating in the clinic can register online at fordhamsports.com/liberty.

The New York Liberty clinic will feature a pre-game Q&A with Fordham Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley, current players and Liberty Director of Player Development Teresa Weatherspoon as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. A full clinic will follow in the Lombardi Center featuring New York Liberty representatives. Participants will receive a Liberty t-shirt, shoelaces and rally towel as well as two tickets to a future New York Liberty game. The cost of the clinic is only $30 and includes admission to Fordham's game against La Salle. Additional game tickets for non-participants, parents and family members are just $2.
 
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 1,145 career points to ranks 12th on the all-time list and was the 15th player in program history to score 1,100 points. Clark also recently grabbed her 800th career rebound in the win over George Mason and now has 851 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 224 career three's, which now ranks second on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs 10 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 29 times resulting in 29 victories. The Rams are 39-4 in such instances under Coach Gaitley and have won 30 straight. This occurred 12 times last season and seven times season with the victories over Manhattan, Lafayette, Central Connecticut, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, Davidson, Saint Joseph's and Rhode Island.
 
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 35th in scoring defense (56.2).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 14th in minutes played (8:08:00), 38th in double-doubles (9), 28th in minutes played per game (36.73), 37th in total rebounds (802) and 58th in rebounds per game (9.2).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 20th in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.86), 12th in total made 3's (63) and 72nd in three-point field goal percentage (.382). Missry is also 35th in the nation in minutes played (777:00) and 76th in minutes played per game (35.52).
 
THE WIN OVER GEORGE WASHINGTON...: Snapped the Colonials' 14-game win streak, the Colonials' 17-game Atlantic 10 win streak, and produced the Rams' first victory of the season against a ranked opponent or one receiving votes in the national polls (1-4).
 
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: The Rams scored a season-high 76 points and shot a season-best 54.2 percent from the field in the win over George Washington. It was the second time this season the Rams scored more than 70 points (74 versus Delaware State) and the first time they shot over 50 percent since Feb. 25, 2015 when the feat was accomplished at George Mason.
 
BURNIQUA BLOWS UP: Junior Danielle Burns produced an offensive explosion in the win over George Washington. She scored a career-high 31 points, including 18 after the break, while shattering her previous career best of 17 against George Mason earlier this year, converted 11 field goals (on 14 attempts), sunk a career-high four triples (on six attempts), grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
 
ONLY SIX WAS NECESSARY: The Rams used only six players in the win over George Washington. Starters G'mrice Davis (34), Danielle Burns (38), Samantha Clark (40), Lauren Holden (31) and Hannah Missry (39) all logged over 30 minutes, while Danielle Padovano was the lone player off the bench (18).
 
WHEN G SCORES IN DOUBLE FIGURES...: The Rams are 7-4 and 4-0 in Atlantic 10 play when sophomore G'mrice Davis scores in double figures. She scored 16 points in the win over George Washington, her highest scoring output since tallying a career-high 21 points in the win over Davidson Jan. 2.
 
UP NEXT: The Rams continue their conference road swing when they travel to Philadelphia, Pa. Feb. 10 to take on Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. Fordham defeated the Hawks, 47-40, inside the Rose Hill Gym Jan. 17.