Women's Basketball Kicks Off 17-18 Season with Win over UMBC

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Bronx, N.Y. – It feels like longer than the eight months it's been since the Fordham women's basketball team got its last victory, on the road at Georgetown in the opening round of the WNIT, but the long wait for the 2017-18 season to begin is now a thing of the past; the Rams defeated UMBC in their season opener on Friday night inside the Rose Hill Gymnasium.
 
"I'm really proud of us as a team to be able to stay composed against a talented and well-coached UMBC team," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "It's a great start to a challenging schedule. UMBC gave us all we could handle!"
 
Johanna Klug led the way for the Rams with 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting and 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds, three offensive, plus three assists, a block, and a steal in 30 minutes. G'mrice Davis notched her first double-double of the year, with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, after posting 24 a year ago, third-most in the country. Joining the pair in double figures were Lauren Holden and Bre Cavanaugh. Holden hit 3-of-6 long-range bombs to go with all four of her free throw attempts to post 13 points, while Cavanaugh scored 12 across 39 minutes.
 
UMBC scored first, a Laura Castaldo jumper, but Holden got the Rams started this year with a patented three from the wing on a nice feed from Davis, who was being double-teamed down low. The Retrievers struck twice to take a 6-3 lead but Davis answered with a coast-to-coast layup and Cavanaugh scored her first collegiate basket while getting fouled, converting the opportunity to give the Rams an 8-6 lead. UMBC would score the quarter's final six points, however, on two threes during the final 70 seconds, giving the Retrievers a 14-11 lead, the lone period that they would win over the Rams.
 
Holden began the second quarter by hitting a contested three at the buzzer to tie the game up, which kickstarted an 8-0 run. Davis drained a long two-pointer from near the top of the key and Klug scored her first career points in similar fashion to Cavanaugh, getting fouled while going up for a layup and converting to put Fordham up, 19-14. The Retrievers responded, however, with a run of their own, scoring seven straight points to retake the lead, 21-19. Freshman Halei Gillis scored her lone point off the bench from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to one, and Holden continued her solid play with another make from behind the arc to take a 23-21 lead with 45 seconds remaining, which would be the halftime score.
 
Fordham was ready for the second half and went on a small 5-0 run to go up 28-21 in the early going of the second half, including a Cavanaugh corner three and a Davis make off a nice feed from Kendell Heremaia. The teams traded free throws, three for the Rams, two of which came after UMBC head coach Phil Stern received a technical foul. The Rams reached a double-digit lead when Klug found Cavanaugh cutting along the baseline for an easy layup, 33-23, though the Retrievers would not let it slip away further. After an UMBC run cut it to six, 33-27, Fordham came away with two nice plays from its frontcourt pairing. First Davis found Klug with a nice look for a layup and the freshman returned the favor on the next possession, backing down her defending before handing it off to an open Davis, putting the Rams back up by 10, 37-27.
 
Things became nervy late in the third quarter when Davis picked up her fourth personal foul and had to head to the bench. Without her and with four freshman on the court alongside Holden, the Retrievers made a move, scoring five straight points and ultimately going on a 9-2 run over the next three-plus minutes and into the fourth quarter.
 
A Brittani Burgess jumper cut the deficit to three, 41-38, but Fordham regain its composure and gave itself some breathing room. Cavanaugh hit a pair of freebies and the first career baskets for Zara Jillings and then Heremaia put the Rams back up 10, 48-38. Jillings was left wide open for a three on the right win for her basket, while Heremaia found space at the top of the key and swished her long two-pointer home.
 
UMBC did not back down quietly, though, and went on a run to get within two. Davis reentered the contest with less than five minutes to play in the midst of the run and missed a pair of free throws, while the Retrievers' Melody Van Ness hit a prayer layup around the senior to get within two, 48-46. Davis had a good look on the other end with two minutes to go but it rimmed out. Thankfully for Fordham, Klug was in perfect position for the board and the putback, taking the wind out of UMBC's sails as Fordham held on thereafter with stout defense and perfect free throw shooting to get the victory.
 
After the 14-11 first quarter in UMBC's favor, the Rams outscored the Retrievers in each period, including a 12-7 score in the second quarter when the visitors were held to 18.2% shooting (2-of-11). Fordham finished the night shooting 40.0% from the field (16-for-40) with a 31.3% mark from downtown (5-for-16), but excelled at the free throw line, hitting 18-of-24 shots (75.0%) to see out the win.
 
Joining Davis and Holden in the starting lineup were Cavanaugh, Heremaia, and Klug. Heremaia finished with two points, five rebounds, a game-high four assists, and a team-high two steals across 26 minutes. Jillings also posted solid all-around numbers with four points, five boards, an assist and a steal.
 
The Rams are on the road for two straight nonconference contests over the next nine days, first at Boston College on Thursday morning during the team's Field Trip Day event, with tipoff scheduled for 11 a.m.