Women's Basketball Looks to Stay Hot Wednesday Night at Saint Joseph's

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The fifth-place Fordham women's basketball team (11-12, 6-4 A10) looks to win a fourth consecutive Atlantic 10 contest when the Rams travel to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on 10th-place Saint Joseph's (10-12, 4-6 A10) Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. inside the Hagan Arena. Fans can watch the game on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network or listen to the game for free online on WFUV.
                                                                                            
SCOUTING SAINT JOESPH'S: The Hawks, who were projected to finish in seventh place in the Atlantic 10, sit in 10th place in the conference standings after dropping five of their last six games, as a four-game losing streak started Jan. 17 with a 47-40 loss at Fordham, which snapped a three-game win streak. St. Joe's defeated La Salle at home, 64-55, for its most recent victory, and the Hawks are coming off a 55-41 loss at George Mason Super Bowl Sunday. Saint Joseph's is led by in scoring by Third Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 selection Ciara Andrews, who leads the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game to go along with a team-high 28 steals. Sarah Fairbanks adds 10.4 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game along with team highs in assists (58) and blocks (23).
 
SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting will be the 44th in the series, with the Hawks holding a commanding 35-8 advantage. The series dates back to March 3, 1972 when Saint Joseph's won by a score of 48-23, which started a six-game win streak to start the series. Fordham collected its first victory over the Hawks, 74-65, in the Bronx Feb. 27, 1996 in its first season in the Atlantic 10. Saint Joseph's went on to win the next 13 in the series until the Rams won, 57-53, in Philadelphia Feb. 16, 2003. However, Fordham has the last four meetings and is 5-3 under Coach Gaitley. The Rams grinded out a 57-47 victory last season (Jan. 15) inside the Rose Hill Gym, before rallying late in the second half Feb. 8 at St. Joe's to shock the Hawks, 48-47. The first victory last season allowed Fordham to claim back-to-back victories over Saint Joseph's for the first time in series history, and the Rams stretched the win streak out to four Jan. 17 with a 47-40 victory inside the Rose Hill Gym.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Senior Samantha Clark's layup with 43 seconds left in the game proved to be the game-winning bucket for the Fordham women's basketball team, as the Rams let a second-half lead slip away, before holding on to defeat Massachusetts, 60-55, Saturday in Atlantic 10 play inside the Mullins Center. Clark tallied eight of the Rams' final 10 points to finish with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, with all 10 coming in the second half, resulting in her 10th double-double of the season. Freshman Lauren Holden added 12 points, four rebounds and a season-high six assists, while junior Danielle Burns also had 12 points, including 10 in the second half, five rebounds and five assists. Sophomore G'mrice Davis rounded out the double-digit scoring for Fordham with 10 points and nine rebounds, and junior Hannah Missry scored all nine of her points in the first half on three trey balls.

For the second consecutive contest, the Rams only played six players, as Holden, Burns and Missry played all 40 minutes, while Clark saw her consecutive-games streak of 40 minutes played snapped at 39. Davis logged 36 minutes, and junior Danielle Padovano was the lone player off the bench for the second straight game as well.

The first 20 minutes were evenly played on the scoreboard. Holden beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter to tie the game at 14-14, and Fordham would take a pair of six-point advantages in the second stanza, with the last coming at 30-24 on a layup from Clark. However, the Rams failed to score over the final 3:59 of the half and went into the locker room leading 30-28.

Fordham shot a solid 44.8 percent (13-of-29) over the first 20 minutes, but the defense allowed UMass to shoot 50 percent (13-of-26).

The Minutewomen tied the contest twice over the first two minutes of the third quarter, and with the score deadlocked at 32-32, Holden knocked down a triple and then a second one to cap an 8-0 spurt, which gave Fordham its largest lead of the game, 40-32, at the 4:31 mark of the period.

UMass slowly worked its way back into the game, and a three-pointer with 42 seconds left knotted the contest at 44-44, before Burns knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Rams a 46-44 advantage heading into the final quarter.

The Minutewomen tied the game to start the fourth, and Burns regained the lead for Fordham with a jumper. On UMass' next possession, Cierra Dillard drained a three-pointer, which moved the home team back in front by one.

Burns once again put the Rams back in front, but the Minutewomen quickly went back ahead. With 4:02 remaining in the game, Clark scored on a layup that ultimately gave Fordham the lead for good at 52-51.

Clark extended the lead to 54-51 with a pair of free throws at the 3:21 mark, but neither side could score over the next two minutes until UMass made it 54-53 with 1:09 left.

Another layup from Clark with 42 seconds left placed the Rams in front 56-53. On the next Minutewomen possession, the home team was able to corral two offensive rebounds, and Rashida Timbilla scored on the second putback and was fouled, giving UMass an opportunity to tie the game with 16 second left.

Instead, Timbilla missed the free throw, Clark grabbed the rebound, and found Holden, who was fouled and made both free throws. The Minutewomen then missed a potential-tying three with 10 seconds left, and Clark grabbed her 10th board of the game, before going to the line to clinch the victory for Fordham.

The Rams finished the contest shooting 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field and 5-of-18 from distance. Fordham was excellent from the charity stripe, draining 13-of-15, including 12-of-14 after halftime. The Rams also assisted on 18 of their 21 made baskets and narrowly lost the rebounding battle, 34-33.

The defense held UMass to 35.2 percent shooting in the second half, which resulted in 41.7 percent (25-of-60) overall. The Minutewomen also knocked down 2-of-6 from distance and 3-of-5 from the line.
 
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 1,162 career points to rank 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 861 for her career, which ranks third all-time at Fordham.
 
MISSRY AT SECOND: Junior Hannah Missry now has 227 career three's, which now ranks second on the all-time list at Fordham. She now needs seven 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 30th in scoring defense (56.2).
 
CLARK IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Samantha Clark ranks 31st in minutes played (8:47:00), 34th in double-doubles (10), 26th in minutes played per game (36.83), 40th in total rebounds (212) and 55th in rebounds per game (9.2).
 
MISSRY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Junior Hannah Missry ranks 19th in the country in 3-PT FG's made per game (2.87), 14th in total made 3's (66) and 78th in three-point field goal percentage (.377). Missry is also 63rd in the nation in minutes played (817:00) and 69th in minutes played per game (35.52).
 
DANIELLE BURNS NAMED ATLANTIC 10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Fordham women's basketball standout Danielle Burns was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Basketball Player of Week, it was announced Monday, Feb. 8 by the league for games played Feb. 1-7. The junior scored a career-high 31 points, including 18 in the second half, as Fordham defeated George Washington, 76-69, last Wednesday (Feb. 3). Burns followed with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in a win against Massachusetts Saturday (Feb. 6). For the week, the Gainsville, Va., native averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 15-of-22 (.682) shooting from the field and 4-of-7 (.571) from beyond the arc.
 
FIRST THREE-GAME WIN STREAK: With the victory at Massachusetts, the Rams constructed their first three-game win streak of the season. The last time Fordham won three or more in a row was the final two games of the 2015 regular season coupled with the win over Richmond in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals. The Rams won three or more in a row four different times last year.
 
ONLY SIX WAS NECESSARY: The Rams only used six players in the wins over George Washington and Massachusetts. Starters G'mrice Davis (34, 36), Danielle Burns (38, 40), Samantha Clark (40, 39), Lauren Holden (31, 40) and Hannah Missry (39, 40) all logged over 30 minutes, while Danielle Padovano was the lone player off the bench (18, 5) in both contests. The starters combined for 195 of the possible 200 minutes in the win over UMass.
 
WHEN G SCORES IN DOUBLE FIGURES...: The Rams are 8-4 and 5-0 in Atlantic 10 play when sophomore G'mrice Davis scores 10 or more points. 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, and followed that up with a 10-point, nine-rebound effort, narrowly missing a sixth double-double for the season.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE #10: Senior Samantha Clark collected her 10th double-double of the season when she finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, with all 10 coming in the second half, in the win at Massachusetts.
 
HOLDEN SWISHING AND DISHING: Freshman Lauren Holden netted 12 points and dished out a season-high six assists in the win at Massachusetts.
 
18-OF-21: The Rams assisted on 18 of their 21 made baskets in the win over Massachusetts.
 
 UP NEXT: The Rams return to the Rose Hill Gym Saturday, Feb. 13 when they host La Salle for a 2 p.m. contest. Saturday will also be the Rams "Play4Kay" game when the squad will wear pink uniforms to help support breast cancer research.