Women's Basketball Wins Sixth Straight at St. Bonaventure

Box Score (pdf)

Olean, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team matched its best-ever start to conference play with a 60-44 win at St. Bonaventure on Sunday afternoon, holding its third straight opponent under 50 points. With the win, the Rams improve to 15-5 (6-0 A-10), while the Bonnies fall to 6-12 (1-5 A-10) overall.
 
The Rams overcame a slow start and a second-quarter deficit for their sixth consecutive win overall and sixth straight in Atlantic 10 play, matching Gaitley's 2014-15 squad that featured half of this year's team. Lauren Holden led all players with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting while playing all 40 minutes. G'mrice Davis and Danielle Burns each chipped in 16 points although Davis was unable to notch her seventh straight double-double of the year, grabbing just seven boards. The Rams defense held St. Bonaventure's leading scorer Mariah Ruff to zero points.
 
The Bonnies started out strong, limiting Fordham to just 2-of-9 shooting in the first quarter and converting 5-of-12 shots. The Rams committed 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and Holden started off 0-of-5 from the field. The Bonnies finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run. However, the Rams were rejuvenated out of the break, scoring 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting with zero turnovers. Fordham began with a 9-0 run, holding the Bonnies without a point for the first seven minutes until Sarah Hart scored with 3:03 left in the half. The basket cut the Fordham lead to four, 16-12, and started a quick spurt of scoring from both teams. Gabby Richmond also hit a layup but sandwiched around that were two Burns threes, her second and third of the period. Fordham led, 26-22, at the half after an Anna Kelly and-one and a Jalisha Terry three at the buzzer.
 
Fordham never trailed again, although the Bonnies got within three twice early in the third quarter. After a Hart layup made it 33-30 with just under six minutes to go, the Rams responded with an 11-2 run to close out the quarter, including seven straight points from Holden. The sophomore guard scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-of-5 from deep in the second half. Holden kicked off the fourth quarter with a three, pushing the lead up to 15, and the Rams' lead wouldn't dip below 10 for the rest of the game.
 
The 44 points by St. Bonaventure is the third straight game in which Fordham has held an opponent under 50 points and four in the last seven dating back to the win over UNC Asheville on December 30.
 
Fordham shot 42.0% from the floor (21-of-50) and held the Bonnies to 37.5% shooting (18-of-48) and just 11.1% (1-of-9) from downtown. The Rams committed just six turnovers after the first quarter and finished with 16 on the day, compared to St. Bonaventure's 14.
 
Davis missed her seventh straight double-double, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Burns nearly tallied her second double-double, missing out by one rebound to go with her 16 points, two assists and a steal in 35 minutes. Only four other players got on the scoresheet, with starters Hannah Missry and Kate Kreslina combining for five points, Tiffany Suarez scoring two, and Anna Kelly notching four points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench.
 
With Saint Louis' loss, the Rams are now in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10. Fordham travels to Saint Joseph's for a Wednesday evening match-up, tipping off at 7 p.m.