Fordham University Athletics

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Queens, N.Y. – In the 25^th meeting between the Fordham women's basketball team and St. John's, the Battle of the Boroughs, it was the Rams who outlasted the Red Storm, RPI's 12^th-ranked team, 67-64, in double overtime on Tuesday night, for their first series victory since 2002. The win is Fordham's fifth in its last six contests, improving the team to 6-3 on the season, while the Red Storm fall to 6-3.
 
The Rams were led by redshirt freshman Bre Cavanaugh's 20 points, nine coming in the two overtime periods, double-doubles by both G'mrice Davis and Mary Goulding, and a season-high 14 points from Johanna Klug.
 
"It was so great to be able to pull out a tough road win after some tough road losses," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said after the win, "It came down to a big defensive stop at the end, which is what Fordham Basketball is all about!"
 
St. John's Tiana England scored the game's first bucket on the first possession but Fordham soon tied things up with a Klug layup, two of her season-high 14 points, and the Rams fought for an 11-4 lead and eventually a 13-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The game's pace turned up in the second quarter, though, as St. John's raced ahead with a quick run.
 
The Red Storm retook the lead, 14-13, with two quick baskets. Klug stepped up again, drilling a wide-open three-pointer, the first of her career, and hitting a layup on the team's next offensive possession to go up by four. England answered with a three of her own on the other end of the floor, which sparked a 12-4 run leading into the second media timeout at the 2:26 minute mark of the first half, unusually late due to a lack of dead ball situations. Neither team could convert any of their field goal attempts before the halftime break but Maya Singleton did hit one of her two free throws at the 1:28 minute mark, as the Red Storm took a 27-22 lead into halftime.  
 
St. John's had its largest lead of the evening, 32-26, at the six minute mark of the third quarter. The Rams rallied, outscoring their opponents, 14-9, the rest of the frame, starting with a Lauren Holden three and cutting the deficit to one with a Davis jumper. The Rams tied the game up briefly, 37-37, on a Klug layup and the freshman rose to the occasion a minute later, retaking the lead, 40-39, with a banked three from the far wing. Nearly two minutes of scoreless ball followed until England converted a fast break layup with seven ticks on the clock, putting the Red Storm back ahead by one, 41-40, heading to the fourth.
 
Unsurprisingly, it was England to get her team started in the final period of regulation, hoisting a three that fell short but grabbing her own offensive rebound and laying it back in for a three-point lead. Following the first media timeout of the frame, Fordham grabbed its own vital offensive rebound, with Klug grabbing the board, handing it off to Goulding, who fed a wide-open Cavanaugh behind the arc for a timely game-tying trey, 43-43, with over eight minutes to play. England again answered with a layup but Davis dropped both of her free throws in on the other side to keep things knotted up.
 
Fordham got some breathing room with two quick baskets from Holden and Goulding, forcing a St. John's timeout with 5:41 to play in regulation. Up to that point, the Rams were 3-for-5 from the floor in the fourth and 2-for-2 from the line, while the Red Storm were just 2-of-7. Goulding's jumper near the charity stripe gave the Rams their largest lead of the night, 51-45. After several misses by each team, Alisha Kebbe drilled a three from the corner to prompt a Gaitley timeout. Cavanaugh sank both of her free throws out of the timeout after being fouled by Kebbe, but on the other end it was Andrayah Adams with a critical and-one play to get back within two, 53-51, with just over two minutes to play. About 90 seconds later, it was Adams again with a layup along the baseline for the sixth tie of the contest, with 57 seconds left in regulation, which is what the score would remain to force overtime. After Davis was called for traveling, Cavanaugh took a charge on the other end, giving Fordham the ball back with the shot clock nearly matching the game clock, but the freshman's long three at the end of the 30 seconds rimmed out. Goulding snatched the board, one of her seven on the offensive glass, but her putback fell short. With three seconds remaining, England got off a shot from the top of the arc, but missed.
 
St. John's started strong in both overtime periods. In the first, Kebbe and Singleton combined for four points with a layup and two free throws, respectively, to take a three-point lead around Davis hitting one of her two free throws. On Fordham's next offensive possession, it was two offensive boards, one by Davis and one by Goulding, which led to Cavanaugh hitting a whip-quick jumper off the jumper to get back within one. England, fouled on the other end, could only hit one of her two freebies, and the Rams equalized via Goulding free throws after the New Zealand native grabbed yet another offensive board and sank her two free throws, 58-58. After a Kebbe turnover, Fordham took the lead on a Cavanaugh three, deep in the shot clock, but once again England proved a thorn in the Rams' side, draining one of her own with 54 seconds left. Neither team could capitalize on their final possessions – Cavanaugh seeing her layup blocked on one end and Davis switching on England with stifling defense to prevent her from making the go-ahead basket.
 
Again, the hosts jumped out to a lead, with an Adams jumper and one free throw by Imani Littleton, putting St. John's up by three, 64-61, with nearly three full minutes to play. Over those final minutes, Fordham's defense would not allow another St. John's basket. Davis' jumper on the next possession, after a media timeout, got within one, and the Rams got the ball back after a pair of missed jumpers by Kebbe and Akina Wellere. Coach Gaitley called a timeout, got her group organized, and Cavanaugh fought through traffic for a layup, getting fouled in the process, in what would turn out to be the game-winning basket. The Allamuchy, N.J. native couldn't convert the three-point play but was able to sink two clutch free throws with just 24 seconds on the clock to provide a three-point cushion that the Rams wouldn't need. Tiana England's three-point attempt went long and clanked off the backboard to end the game.
 
Cavanaugh tallied a game-high 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 2-of-6 from downtown, and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe, also corralling five boards, all across a season-high 48 minutes. Davis made it seven straight contests with a double-double to begin her senior campaign, with 11 points and 14 rebounds, plus two blocks and three steals, also across 48 minutes. Goulding played the full 50 minutes and enjoyed her third double-double of the season and in the last four games, with 12 points and 10 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive glass, and a career-high seven assists. Holden also played the full 50 minutes, while Klug played 44, also notching a season-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with three boards and three assists, plus a block.
 
Tuesday was the first time all season that Fordham was outrebounded, entering the contest with eight straight wins on the glass and a +9.8 rebounding margin. The Red Storm grabbed 42 boards compared to the Rams' 36, however. The hosts also outshot Fordham, 40.6% to 37.5%, but committed six more turnovers (18-12), while dishing out fewer assists (12-8). Fordham continued its excellent free-throw shooting, sinking 13-of-15 attempts (86.7%).
 
The Rams have several days off before hosting Bucknell on Sunday afternoon at the Rose Hill Gym, at 2 p.m. before welcoming nationally-ranked UCLA to the Bronx three days later.