Women's Basketball Hosts St. Bonaventure on Alumni Day

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (15-9, 6-4 A-10) has dropped its last four Atlantic 10 contests after matching the program's best-ever start to league play with six consecutive wins. The Rams will look to break the slide this Saturday afternoon against St. Bonaventure (9-13, 4-6 A-10), with tipoff schedule for 2 p.m.
 
Women's Basketball Promotions
There are several promotions going on associated with the Fordham women's basketball program.
 
Tomorrow is the team's annual Alumni Day! For alums still interested in participating in the game and/or the day's events, please click here
 
Saturday, February 11 is the team's annual Play4Kay Day, where the Rams, as well as all fans in attendance, are encouraged to wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.
 
Finally, interested youth groups should check out the Women's basketball program's Harry's Hustler's young group initiative to attend home games and participate in a variety of activities and opportunities.
 
Last Time Out at George Washington
Wednesday's 17-point loss at George Washington made it four straight losses for Fordham after six-win start to A-10 play. Fordham held a 26-22 halftime lead over the Colonials and, after falling behind in the third quarter, rallied to within one, but turnovers and poor defense led to a scoring outburst by the two-time defending champions. The Colonials did shoot better in the first half and make one more field goal but Fordham hit four three-pointers, two from Danielle Burns, while the hosts hit none. George Washington were rejuvenated out of the break, going on a 10-0 run and forcing two timeouts from Coach Gaitley before the Rams closed within one, 33-32, on three-pointers from Burns and Danielle Padovano. Fordham shot 4-of-8 from the floor in the third quarter but just 3-of-10 in the fourth, committing 13 turnovers in the second half and allowing GW to shoot 44.1% from the floor, including a 64.3% mark in the third frame. The Colonials did almost all of their damage in the paint, especially in the second half where they took just one three, outscoring Fordham, 38-18 inside the arc. Davis tallied her fourth straight double-double and 15th overall with 18 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, and 14 rebounds, to go with a block and a pair of steals across 38 minutes. Burns notched 11 points, four boards, and three assists, but scored just three points after the break.
 
Series History vs. St. Bonaventure
Despite a loss several weeks ago in Olean, the Bonnies still hold a 22-15 all-time series lead since 1996, the first year that Fordham participated in the Atlantic 10. The Rams took the first contest, 86-65, 21 years ago, on the road, but St. Bonaventure enjoyed the bulk of the victories, especially between 1999 and 2012 when the Bonnies won 16 of 21 contests, including two separate stretches of seven consecutive wins. Since a meeting in 2012 when the Bonnies were ranked 19th in the country, Fordham has won six of the last eight meetings, including the last two, a 77-68 win in the Bronx a year ago and a 60-44 win on the road in mid-January.
 
Scouting the Bonnies
The Bonnies are led by first-year head coach Jesse Fleming, who has deep ties to the program. Fleming spent 11 years under long-time head coach Jim Crowley, working his way up from student manager to associate head coach in 2010-11, before moving to Bowling Green with the same title. Fleming returns to a team that finished last season at 24-8 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. The Bonnies defeated Oklahome State in Corvallis, Oregon in the first round, 65-54, before falling to the hosts, #6 Oregon State, in the following round. St. Bonaventure has lost four of the five starters that made up that team, most notably Katei Healey. However, Fleming does have Mariah Ruff, Gabby Richmond, and Matea Britvar. After losing to Fordham, the Bonnies have since rebounded, winning three of their last four, inclduing wins at Massachusetts and at home against Duquesne and Davidson. Ruff was held scoreless in the last meeting a few weeks ago but don't anticipate it happening again. Ruff and Richmond are each averaging 13.7 points per game in conference play, with the latter leading the squad with 7.9 boards per game, too. Ruff paces the team with 26 steals on the year while both Richmond and Britvar have been fiercesome on the defense end and on the glass.
 
Gaitley Three Wins Away
Stephanie Gaitley reached 100 wins with the Fordham program against Little Rock on November 19 and is currently at 113 for her Rams career. Gaitley needs just three more victories in the Bronx to surpass Kathy Mosolino ('74-'80) to become the all-time winningest head coach in Fordham history. She would also match the 116 wins she accrued while at Richmond, the second-most at any one school in her career.
 
Gaitley's 900th Game
The double overtime win over Albany on November 22 was Stephanie Gaitley's 900 career contest as a head coach. She has a 577-343 record over 31 seasons with five different schools.
 
Second-Most Wins in A-10 History
Continuing the trend of Gaitley milestones, the win over Albany was Gaitley's 157th all-time as a coach of an A-10 school (Saint Joseph's and Fordham), passing Theresa Grentz for second-most all-time. Gaitley now has 170 but needs 71 more to break Joe McKeown's all-time record of 240 that he accumulated in 17 seasons at the helm of George Washington from 1989-2008.
 
Missry Hits 1,000 Points
Senior guard Hannah Missry needed nine points entering the New Year's Day matinee at Rhode Island to reach the career milestone and, fittingly, knocked down her first three triples in the first quarter to become the 19th Ram to ever reach the mark. The Manasquan, N.J. native accomplished the feat in her 110th appearance (105th start). Since, the senior guard has moved past Carol Elser '85 and Stacey Paukovitz '93 and is now in a tie for 16th all-time with former teammate Erin Rooney '14 at 1,062 points.
 
Fordham Seniors On the Accelerated Track
Featured in a Sunday edition of the New York Times in early January, Ram seniors Danielle Burns, Hannah Missry, and Danielle Padovano's story of being the only three seniors in any program in the country to graduate in three years and currently enrolled in a master's program as seniors, was told. Interestingly, all three are also earning the same degree -- Media Management.
 
Conference-Only
Fordham is 6-4 in conference play. The Rams matches the program's best-ever start to league play, in any league, with six straight wins but have dropped four consecutive contests since. Thus far, Fordham is outscoring opponents 60.9 to 57.9 (+3.0). G'mrice Davis leads the way with 16.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game and has a double-double in all but two games - against Duquesne where she missed it by one point (9 pts, 10 reb) and at St. Bonaventure where she finished with just seven rebounds. The junior is also converted her attempts at a 55.3% clip. Danielle Burns has been solid against conference foes, with 11.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and a team-leading 27 assists. Hannah Missry has hit 41.1% of her A-10 three-point attempts (23-of-56) and averages 8.4 points per game. However, during the four-game losing streak, the Rams are struggling from the field, shooting 34.6% oevrall (74-of-214) and just 23.9% from deep (17-of-71). Fordham is getting outrebounded, by one board, and are struggling to create, with just 9.5 assists compared to 15.5 turnovers per game. Davis again leads the way, with 18 points and 14 rebounds per game, but only freshman Anna Kelly, off the bench, is averaging more than seven points per contest (7.3). Fordham's other four starters are a combined 29-of-113 (25.7%) over the past four games.
 
G'mrice is Rolling
The Philly native is absolutely rolling over her past 13 games, scoring in double figures in every contest and missing out on a double-double just twice. Since a season-low four points against St. John's at home, the junior has been averaging 17.7 points and 13.2 rebounds per contest on 53.4% shooting to go with nine blocks and 16 steals across a team-high 33.8 minutes. The Rams went 8-1 over the first nine games but have dropped their last four. During the stretch, Davis has collected two A-10 Player of the Week honors.
 
The Bronx is Our House
The Rams are 11-3 this season in the Bronx, as opposed to a 3-5 record on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites. Fordham began this season with six straight home victories and had won three straight before the three-point loss to VCU.
 
Iron Women
Danielle Burns and Hannah Missry have been two of the most durable players in program history and are near the top of the all-time games played and appearances lists. Burns has never missed a contest in her four years in the Bronx and made her 121st career appearance last Saturday at Saint Louis. She has made 69 overall starts, including 46 straight. The Gainesville, Va. native is the fifth Ram to ever make 120 appearances and is currently fifth all-time in games played, recently passing Thersa Hrubash '82 and Kristina Bell '11, now needing seven more to pass both Anne Gregory '80 and former teammate Abigail Corning '14 for third all-time. Hannah Missry is a four-year starter who has made 113 career starts in 118 appearances. Her start midweek at George Washington broke a tie with Suzanne Maguire '97 and the Manasquan, N.J. native is now second all-time behind former teammate Samantha Clark '16, who made 126 starts.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
Last Wednesday's game at Saint Joseph's ended a 38-game winning streak dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season in which Fordham won when holding opponents below 50 points. Coincidentally, the last time the Rams lost in such a fashion was to the Hawks in the 2013 A-10 Championship game at the Barclays Center, 47-46. Fordham was 7-0 this season in such instances this season and had won three in a row holding conference opponents under 50. Overall, under Gaitley, the Rams are 47-5 in this situations.
 
Defense Part Deux
Through 24 games this season, Fordham's defense has limited opposing scoring to just 57.4 points per contest, ranking 33rd in the country. Part of that is due to the Rams' stingy perimeter D that has held opponents to just 27.4% (82-for-299) shooting from beyond the arc, currently situated at 23rd nationally. The Rams had been 12th in the country a two weeks ago before VCU (4-of-8) and Saint Louis (10-of-20) each hit 50% of their attempts, but Fordham held the Colonials without a make in eight tries on Saturday.
 
Three and D
Fordham is 62nd in the country in three-point attempts (463) and 77th in makes (148) while playing terrific defense along the perimeter that has led to teams shooting just 27.4% from deep (33rd in the nation).
 
A-10 Ranks
The Rams are back atop the league in scoring defense (57.4 pts/game) and are also first in rebounding defense, holding opponents to just 33.5 boards per game, and free throw percentage (74.6%). Fordham is also second in three-point defense (27.4%), third in scoring margin (+2.5) and field goal percentage (39.9%), and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (0.8) and three-pointers per game (6.2). On the individual level, G'mrice Davis' 12.5 rebounds per game leads the league as does her 9.7 defensive boards. Davis' 51.2% percentage from the field ranks fourth. Hannah Missry's 2.0 triples per contest ranks fifth-most in the conference.
 
Davis Boarding with the Best
G'mrice Davis has been a force on the glass this season, putting up career numbers across the board that has her near the top of Division I's rebounding lists (as of 2/2/17): Davis' 300 rebounds, 9.7 defensive rebounds per game and 12.5 rebounding average are all second in the nation. Additionally, her 15 double-doubles rank third in the country. Davis has tallied 13 or more rebounds in 14 contests and has notched double-doubles in 10 of her last 12 contests. After grabbing just seven in Olean three weeks ago, Davis began a new streak with 22 points and 19 rebounds in her hometown against the Hawks.
 
It Takes Two to... Rebound at a Historic Rate
Anne Gregory ('80) is one of the NCAA's all-time best rebounders. She is the only Ram in school history to average 10 or more rebounds over a single season and she did it all four of her years in the Bronx. Her lowest total, 12.4, came in 1979-80 during her senior year and G'mrice Davis currently bests that by .1 that through 24 games. She's at the very least on pace to become just the second Ram to ever grab double figure rebounds per contest over a season. Davis' 300 rebounds currently rank fifth-most in a single season and her 7.6 career average is fourth-highest in program history.
 
Actively One of the Best from Deep
Hannah Missry has amassed 288 three-pointers in her career in the Bronx and is sixth among active players in Division I for all-time downtown makes. Missry has recently passed Suntana Granderson (Xavier '04-'07), Lisa Cermignaro (George Washington '94-'97), and now Amy Waugh (Xavier '00-'03) in A-10 history to join Stefanie Collins (St. Bonaventure '02-'06) for fifth all-time in league history. Missry needs just four more makes to enter the top-fthree by leapfrogging Cathy Jones (George Washington '00-'04) and Suzie Dailer (St. Bonaventure '92-'95).
 
Career-Highs for G'mrice
The junior forward is playing the most minutes of her career this season and is putting up terrific numbers. Davis has set three new career-highs in rebounds, first with 15 at #1 Notre Dame, then 17 against Texas Tech, including seven on the offensive glass, and finally 21 against Grambling State, one of the top single-game numbers in A-10 history. Following the win over Davidson, she has now set three new scoring career-highs, as well, first with 22 points against Boston College, 24 in the Battle of the Bronx, and now 27 against the Wildcats. At Iona, Davis played the entire 40 minutes for the first time in her career and matched that feat over two of her last four games, at Saint Joseph's and at home against VCU.
 
Missry For Three!
Hannah Missry tied and broke the all-time Fordham career three-point record last season against St. Bonaventure (2/24/16) with two timely second-half bombs, tying and moving past Heather Donlon (1989-93) on the all-time list. Missry finished her season with five more long-range efforts over the next three contests and began her senior campaign with 239. This year, the senior is shooting 49-of-140 from deep (35.0%) and has enjoyed some success in recent games, hitting between two and five triples in seven of the last 11 contests. Her 2.0 per-game average is fifth in the conference.
 
51 To Go
Missry is 51 three-pointers away from breaking Jessica Jenkins' all-time Atlantic 10 record of 338 threes set at St. Bonaventure from 2009-12. The Manasquan, N.J. native is on pace to finish just behind Jenkins somewhere in the top three.
 
Kelly's Role Growing
Freshman guard Anna Kelly started her Fordham career by scoring seven points in three of her first four games but spent the next 12 contests playing between two and 14 minutes, excluding one 19-minute cameo. Needing an injection of energy against Davidson at the beginning of January, Kelly flourished, tallying a career-high 18 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Kelly also tallied two rebounds, two steals, and two assists, in 27 minutes. Over her next four games, she averaged just under four points per game but, at Saint Louis and George Washington, has been one of the lone bright spots over a tough period for the team, averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, with two assists, and 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 shooting from the line across 24.5 minutes. In our nation's capital on Wednesday, Kelly played over 20 minutes for the third consecutive game but tallied just two points.
 
Fordham's Charity
Fordham is 47th in the country thus far with a 74.6% clip from the free throw line. The Rams have spent a large portion of this season atop the A-10 leaderboards before some struggles from the line helped them slip to second. Before a season-high 23-of-29 performance from the stripe against Davidson (1/4), over the team's previous five games, the Rams were hitting just 64.7% (44-of-68) of their freebies, including a 16-for-25 mark at Rhode Island, the most attempts of the season but also the third-most makes. The 10-of-11 shooting from the line in Olean helped the Rams again reach the summit in the league. Fordham hit 11-of-16 at Saint Joseph's but rebounded with 12-of-14 against VCU. The current 74.6% mark would be the third-best in program history.
 
Fomina Facilitating Off the Bench
Fomina leads the team in assists, with 53, despite averaging just 15.1 minutes off the bench. Her lone start came against Davidson, playing 22 minutes and assisting on five buckets. Fomina began the year with at least one assist in each of the first 10 games, including five at Iona.
 
Kiwis Enroll Early
Two of Fordham's Class of 2021 recruits have joined the team and have been declared eligible to practice and compete. However, the two Kiwis, Kendell Heremaia and Zara Jillings, will redshirt and sit out the remainder of this season. Natives of New Zealand, the duo's school year ended this winter and the pair enrolled early to get integrated into the program. Jillings and Heremaia have taken jersey numbers 15 and 30, respectively, for now.
 
Five Sign NLIs in 2016-17 Recruiting Class
Coach Gaitley announced this past week the additions of five student-athletes  to national letters of intent: Halei Gillis, Kendell Heremaia, Zara Jillings, Ralene Kwiatkowski, and Vilisi Tavui. Fordham's global reach under Coach Gaitley continues with two players from North Carolina, two from New Zealand, and one from Fiji. The three international players all have experience playing within their countries' junior ranks.
 
You can read all about the five additions here.
 
Fordham WBB Ticket Plans
Two women's ticket options are available:
Flex Plan: $35 for 15 tickets
Community Partner: $100 for 50 tickets
 
With the flex plan option, fans receive 15 ticket vouchers good for use at any Fordham women's basketball game, plus a special Fordham scarf. As a community partner, you also have the opportunity to provide 50 tickets to a group of your choice.

The Rams have four remaining home Atlantic 10 contests, including one nationally televised home game – the home season finale against Dayton on February 19.
 
You can purchase single game tickets for all home contests here.
 
Up Next
Fordham plays two home games in three days later in the week, first hosting Saint Joseph's on Thursday night at 7 p.m., followed by Massachusetts on Saturday at 2 p.m.