Women's Basketball Ends Regular Season with 66-61 2OT Win at La Salle

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PHILADELPHIA – The Fordham women's basketball team held on for a huge 66-61 double overtime victory at La Salle to round out the regular season and clinch fifth place in the Atlantic 10. The Rams also secured their fourth 20-win season under head coach Stephanie Gaitley, improve to 20-10 (11-5 A-10) with the victory, while the Explorers fell to 16-12 (9-7 A-10) overall.
 
"I'm so proud of this team to be able to go and win on the road on senior night against a really good La Salle team," Gaitley said, "We showed a lot of heart and guts tonight."
 
The Rams picked up their fourth road victory of the season in dramatic fashion. Fordham trailed at halftime but led for most of the second half as La Salle junior Amy Griffin was going nuclear for 27 second-half points on 10-of-12 shooting. The Explorers kept things close and eventually took a couple late leads, including Griffin's final bucket of the game with 15 seconds to play. G'mrice Davis' buzzer-beating jumper forced the team's second overtime game of the season, as did Hannah Missry's late three-pointer in the first overtime period. Third time was a charm for the Rams with a 10-5 run in second overtime to earn win number 20 on the year.
 
After Lauren Holden got things started with a jumper, Griffin quickly hit two contested jumpers for a sign of things to come to give the hosts a quick lead. Missry went on a personal 5-0 run and kickstarted a 12-6 run over the next seven minutes to close out the period, including a 7-0 run at the end and six turnovers forced. The script changed in the second quarter, with the Explorers tightening up on defense and holding Fordham to just two points. La Salle had just one free throw over a nearly full 10 minute stretch but Micahya Owens' jumper at the 5:42 mark in the frame sparked an 11-2 run in a sloppy period to take the five-point lead into the break. Davis' layup with two minutes to go in the half was the lone basket and the two points were a season low.
 
At the break, each team had coughed the ball up nine times but La Salle's hot two-point shooting (10-of-21 on twos) compared to 29.2% overall shooting for the Rams was the diference.
 
Fordham came out with vigor to start the second half. Davis was fed down low on the first possession and converted her layup through a foul and hitting the free throw to kick things off. Holden's floater in the lane tied the game back up and Kreslina's drive and lay-in gave Fordham the lead back. Griffin temporarily stopped the run with a bucket under the rim but Missry's 300^th career three-pointer broke things open a bit and gave the Rams a lead they wouldn't relinquish until the final few minutes. Jasmine Alston hit a long two to cut the deficit to one but Davis and Kreslina combined to push the lead to its largest, 30-25, with under five minutes to play in the period.
 
La Salle kept things close as Griffin scored five of the team's next six baskets. Anna Kelly came off the bench for four big points in the closing moments of the third quarter as did Danielle Burns in the fourth after Davis picked up her fourth foul. Griffin continued to take and make her mid-ranger jumpers and cut the deficit to one with 8:32 to play. Burns' three pushed the lead back to five with eight minutes to play, 40-35, and hit both of her free throws with just over six minutes to play to make it a four-point game, 42-38. After Alston and Kreslina traded jumpers, the Explorers made their move, going on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to take their first lead since early in the half. The teams traded buckets, with Kelly and Davis answering Sofilia Ngwafang and Griffin baskets. Davis' layup with 39 seconds on the clock knotted the game up at 50 but Griffin hit yet another mid-range shot to take the lead with 15 seconds to play, much like the Davidson game a week ago. However, this time, Davis' shot fell at the death. Davis' look with five seconds left just caromed off but Owens was last to touch it, giving the junior another look at the basket, which she would convert.

Fordham struggled out of the gate as La Salle hit two shots for a four-point lead, 56-52, its largest since halftime, until Holden sank one of her two free throw attempts with 3:30 to play. Neither team could put points on the board over the next three minutes. Out of a late timeout, Burns drove baseline and drew attention away from Missry in the corner. The seniors connected and Fordham's all-time leading long-range bomber put up a high-arching shot that fell right through. Fordham bottled Griffin up on the other end and Owens' attempt in the paint didn't fall.
 
Double overtime was a different story for Fordham as they led throughout. Holden burst past her defender to lay in the period's first attempt to give the Rams a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Burns drained a three from the top of the key a minute later and, although Griffin would hit two more shots, the Rams would answer and coast the rest of the way.
 
La Salle outshot the Rams, 46.0% to 41.0%, thanks mostly to Griffin's incredible 18-of-32 shooting overall and 15-of-23 shooting in regulation. However, the Rams again beat one of the league's better rebounding teams, 38-35, including 13 on the offensive glass, and also held the Explorers without a make in five tries from behind the arc. Fordham outscored La Salle, 19-6, on second-chance points and especially from contributions off the bench, 24-6.
 
Davis paced the Rams with her 20^th double-double, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds over a career-high 41 minutes. Burns came up big off the bench with 12 points, 10 after halftime, on 4-of-9 shooting with four rebounds and three steals. Holden and Missry each chipped in 10 points, with the former playing a career-high 45 minutes, while Kelly added 10 off the bench.
 
The Rams will now host Davidson on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The two teams split the regular season series but the Wildcats fell, 85-72, in the Rose Hill Gym in January. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow.