Women's Basketball Snaps Four-Game Slide With Win Over St. Bonaventure

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team's four-game slide ended on Saturday in the Bronx on Alumni Day. In front of over two dozen former players, their families and friends, and the fans on hand, the Rams snapped the skid with a 57-45 win over St. Bonaventure. With the result, Fordham improves to 16-9 (7-4 A-10) on the season, while the Bonnies fall to 9-14 (4-7 A-10).
 
"First and foremost, it was great to have all our alumni back to celebrate Fordham women's basketball." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley remarked, "It's always tough breaking through a losing streak but I was really proud of our defensive effort against a solid St. Bonaventure team."
 
It had been nearly three weeks since Fordham found itself on the right side of a result, coincidentally last coming in Olean, N.Y. against these same Bonnies with a similar score, 60-44. The Rams used 17-8 first and third quarters to separate themselves from their opponents on the day, and led for nearly the entire contest, only trailing after the game's first bucket and later tied briefly early in the third quarter.
 
After Matea Britvar gave the Bonnies an early 2-0 lead, the Rams put together a fast 8-0 run on threes by Hannah Missry and Danielle Burns, both of whom were held scoreless in midweek, and a jumper from Lauren Holden. First-year Bonnies head coach Jesse Fleming called a timeout and his team came out of the break with two straight baskets but Burns' second trey from the top of the key halted that run before it started. Fordham held St. Bonaventure to just one Britvar jumper over the remaining six and a half minutes in the period.
 
While the first quarter was good for Fordham, the second quarter was mostly St. Bonaventure erasing its double-digit deficit and stifling the Rams offense. Sarah Hart's three kicked off the second frame and her effort was followed by a tough layup by Gabby Richmond and then a Mckenna Maycock free jumper for a 7-0 run that cut the deficit to two, 17-15, and prompted Gaitley to call a timeout. Danielle Padovano gave the Rams their first basket at the 4:15 mark with a hook shot falling away but Jalisha Terry answered right back with her first points of the game. After Anna Kelly got her floater in the lane to drop, Hart struck again from deep to make it a one-point contest. However, on the other end, Kate Kreslina drained the first of her career-high four makes from downtown with just over a minute to play and only two Mariah Ruff free throws followed. Fordham took a slim 24-22 lead into the break.
 
The Bonnies evened things up quickly when Richmond drilled a jumper but

Kreslina's three became the eventual go-ahead bucket as it sparked a 9-2 run. Fordham eventually built up its lead back to double figures by the end of the third quarter, 41-30. Missry, who had been held scoreless her last two contests, canned another look from outside to start the fourth quarter, capping an 8-0 run since late in the third period. Maycock and Kelly traded triples as did Richmond and Asnate Fomina with layups before Fleming called another timeout. Fordham had been on a 22-7 run since midway through the third period and now led, 49-35. Ruff scored six straight points out of the timeout, on a three and an and-one on back-to-back possessions, to cut the deficit to single digits, but with just a couple minutes on the clock, Fordham sank all of their free throws, four sets of them, down the stretch to see out of the victory.
 
The two teams finished with similar overall percentages, 37.7% for Fordham and 37.5% for St. Bonaventure, but the difference was in the three-point shooting. The Rams shot 50% or better in all four quarters, finishing with a season-best 52.9% mark on 9-of-17 shooting, while limiting the Bonnies to just 25% on 4-of-16 from deep, keeping in line with Fordham's top-25 defense along the arc.
 
Fordham also won the battle of the boards, 38-29, including 12 on the offensive glass via six different players, and tallied more assists than turnovers for the first time since Richmond on January 11.
 
Kreslina finished with a game-high 14 points to go with six rebounds, three assists, and two steals over 33 minutes. Davis tallied her 16^th double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding a pair of assists and a block, while Missry added 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Burns ended up with six points, seven rebounds, and three assists, and Holden matched her season-high with four assists but struggled with her shot (1-of-10) to finish with four points. Kelly chipped in seven in 17 minutes off the bench.
 
The Rams remain in the Bronx for their next two, both over a three-day span. First up is Saint Joseph's on Thursday night, with a 7 p.m. tip, followed by the team's annual Play4Kay event next Saturday at 2 p.m. against Massachusetts.