Women's Basketball Hosts Two Games in Three Days

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (16-9, 7-4 A-10) picked up its first win in nearly three weeks last Saturday against St. Bonaventure, breaking a four-game slide in typical Stephanie Gaitley-inspired fashion, holding the Bonnies to 45 points in the victory. The Rams will look to begin a new winning streak when they play two in three days, both in the Rose Hill Gym, first against Saint Joseph's (11-12, 8-3 A-10) on Thursday night and then Saturday against Massachusetts (9-16, 3-9 A-10).
 
Women's Basketball Promotions
There are several promotions going on associated with the Fordham women's basketball program.
 
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. You can make a donation to a wonderful fund, HERE.
 
As always, 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 vs. St. Bonaventure
The Rams enjoyed a relatively easy victory over the Bonnies last Saturday afternoon, trailing just once, with the first basket of the game, in a 57-45 win. Saint Joseph's had snapped the program's 38-game winning streak when holding opponents under 50 points three weeks ago but a new streak began against St. Bonaventure. Fordham jumped out to a 17-8 lead after the first quarter but struggled with shooting and defense in the next frame, allowing a 14-7 Bonnies run to cut the lead to two at halftime, 24-22. The Rams found their first-quarter mojo after the break with another 17-8 advantage and held on down the stretch with terrific free throw shooting. Fordham shot 37.7% from the field but a season-high 52.9% from downtown, never shooting below 50% in any period of the game. A big part of that was Kate Kreslina's season-high four triples in five attempts, plus two each from Danielle Burns and Hannah Missry and one from Anna Kelly. G'mrice Davis tallied her 16th double-double of the year, and 12th in her last 14 contests, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kreslina's 14 points were a game-high, while Missry chipped in 10 points and Kelly seven off the bench.
 
Series History vs. Saint Joseph's
The all-time series between the Hawks and Rams has been very one-sided until recent years where has been split evenly over the last 10 contests. Saint Joseph's owns a 37-8 all-time advantage since 1972, a stretch that included the Hawks winning 19 of the series' first 20 contests. You can credit current Fordham coach Stephanie Gaitley for a lot of those losses, as the 31-year veteran spent 10 seasons in Philadelphia with the Hawks and enjoyed a 13-1 record against the Rams, with Fordham's lone win coming in the Bronx, 74-65, in February 1996. All told, Gaitley has been involved in 24 of the series' 45 meetings. Over the last 10 contests, all under Gaitley, each team has a 5-5 record, with the most recent being the tough 47-44 loss at Hagan Arena last month that sparked the losing skid. In that contest on January 18, G'mrice Davis piled up 22 points and 19 rebounds but only Hannah Missry chipped in more than five (8). Fordham shot 25.4% from the field and 3-of-17 from deep despite grabbing 42 rebounds, second-most this season.
 
Scouting the Hawks
The Hawks are led by Cindy Griffin, in her 16th season, and a top-heavy efficient scoring attack with plenty of size on the defensive end. Chelsea Woods and Adaisha Franklyn are a formidable duo, with size, strength, and a good touch around the rim. Woods averages 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds, while Franklyn averages 11.9 and 8.0. Against the Rams three weeks ago, those numbers were 14 and nine and eight and 13, respectively. Franklyn is the lone Hawk to start all 23 contests and has been one of the league's top defenders in the paint, racking up 33 blocks thus far. Woods and Franklyn convert on 45.1% and 49.1% of their attempts, with the latter ranking among some of the conference's best. Sarah Veilleux and Amanda Fioravanti, shooting at 45% and 44.5% clips, respectively, are also dangerous, and both chip in on the glass and with defensive stats, as well. Veilleux hit two big three-pointers in a row against Fordham to stop a Rams run and retake the lead in the second quarter. Saint Joseph's win over Fordham was its fourth in a row and the Hawks have doubled the feat over their last four after falling at Dayton in overtime on January 21. During the stretch, the Hawks have picked up wins at Rhode Island and Saint Louis and at home to St. Bonaventure and Duquesne.
 
Series History vs. Massachusetts
The Minutewomen hold a 21-17 all-time series advantage since 1980, when Fordham dropped UMass, 81-63 in the Bronx. Fordham won three of the first five meetings before entering the Atlantic 10. Massachusetts won 21 of the first 30 contests overall but the Rams have since rattled off nine straight victories dating back to 2011, the year before Gaitley arrived. Last season, the Rams were victorious in the regular season, 60-55, in Amherst, Mass., and took down the Minutewomen, 73-62, in overtime of the first round of last year's A-10 Championship, held in Richmond, Va.
 
Scouting the Minutewomen
Fordham has G'mrice Davis leading the conference in all rebounding-related categories, but Massachusetts' has Maggie Mulligan, who isn't far behind. In fact, for most of the season, Mulligan and Davis traded off being at the top in rebounding rate until the former dropped down a full board per game once conference play began. Mulligan is one of two Minutewomen to start all 25 contests and she averages 13.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, plus has 44 blocks and 28 steals thus far. One area that she bests Davis in is offensive boards, where she has corralled 97 thus far compared to Davis' 69. UMass are led by freshman standout Hailey Leidel is third in the league with 16.4 points per game and also chips in 6.2 rebounds per game and a team-high 47 steals, also shooting the ball 38% from both inside and outside the arc, the latter being the third-best mark in the conference. Junior Leah McDerment is one of the A-10's better point guards, currently third with 136 assists and 5.4 dimes per game. As a team, the Minutewomen are being outscored by 4.9 points per game. They shoot the ball reasonably well but also allow opposing teams to shoot about the same, and also cough up the ball nearly 17 times a game. UMass has garnered conference wins over Rhode Island, at Davidson, and Duquesne, but have lost six straight, most recently at home to Saint Louis and Davidson.
 
Gaitley Two Wins Away
Stephanie Gaitley reached 100 wins with the Fordham program against Little Rock on November 19 and is currently at 114 for her Rams career. Gaitley needs just two 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 578-343 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 171 but needs 70 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, Stacey Paukovitz '93, and former teammate Erin Rooney '14 and now stands 16th all-time with 1,072 career 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  masters program as seniors, was told. Interestingly, all three are also earning the same degree -- Media Management.
 
Conference-Only
Fordham is 7-4 in conference play. The Rams matched the program's best-ever start to league play, in any league, with six straight wins before dropping four consecutive contests prior to the win over St. Bonaventure last Saturday. Thus far, Fordham is outscoring opponents 60.5 to 56.7 (+3.8). G'mrice Davis leads the way with 16.5 points and 12.3 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 converting her attempts at a 54.9% clip. Danielle Burns has been solid against conference foes, with 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and a team-leading 30 assists. Hannah Missry has hit 41.7% of her A-10 three-point attempts (25-of-60) and averages 8.5 points per game, while Kate Kreslina has converted on 39.3% of her long-range attempts. During the four-game losing streak, the Rams struggled from the field, shooting 34.6% overall (74-of-214) and just 23.9% from deep (17-of-71). Fordham struggled to create, with just 9.5 assists compared to 15.5 turnovers per game but improved on that with 13 and 12, respectively, against the Bonnies. Fordham's non-Davis starters were a combined 29-of-113 (25.7%) during the slide.
 
G'mrice is Rolling
The Philly native is absolutely rolling over her past 14 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 17.3 points and 12.9 rebounds per contest on 53.2% shooting to go with 10 blocks and 16 steals across a team-high 33.5 minutes. During the stretch, Davis collected two A-10 Player of the Week honors.
 
The Bronx is Our House
The Rams are 12-3 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 two weeks ago.
 
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 122nd career appearance on Saturday against the Bonnies. She has made 70 overall starts, including 47 straight. The Gainesville, Va. native is the fifth Ram to ever make 120 appearances and is currently fifth all-time in games played. Hannah Missry is a four-year starter who has made 114 career starts in 119 appearances. The two teammates are fifth and sixth in all-time appearances, while Missry is second all-time in career starts behind former teammate Samantha Clark '16, who made 126 starts. The duo are six and eight appearances, respectively, from passing both Anne Gregory '80 and former teammate Abigail Corning '14 for third all-time.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
Saint Joseph's ended the ultimate Stephanie Gaitley-led program streak of 38 straight wins dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season in which Fordham held opponents under 50 points. The Hawks defeated the Rams, 47-44, at Hagan Arena in mid-January. Coincidentally, the last time before that in which Fordham lost in such a way was to Saint Joseph's in the 2013 A-10 Championship game at the Barclays Center, 47-46. The Rams began a new streak on Saturday by defeating St. Bonaventure, 57-45, in the Bronx. This season, Fordham is 8-1 in such contests, including three in conference play, plus holding Duquesne to 51 points on December 1. Overall, under Gaitley, the Rams are 47-5 in such wins.
 
Defense Part Deux
Through 25 games this season, Fordham's defense has limited opposing scoring to just 56.9 points per contest, ranking 26th in the country. Part of that is due to the Rams' stingy perimeter D that has held opponents to just 27.3% (86-for-315) shooting from beyond the arc, currently situated at 19th nationally. The Rams had been 12th in the country 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 last Wednesday and the Bonnies to just 4-of-16 from deep on Saturday.
 
Three and D
Fordham is 84th in the country in three-point attempts (480) and 83rd in makes (157) while playing terrific defense along the perimeter that has led to teams shooting just 27.3% from deep (19th in the nation).
 
A-10 Ranks
The Rams are back atop the league in scoring defense (56.9 pts/game) and are also first in rebounding defense, holding opponents to just 33.3 boards per game. Fordham is also second in three-point defense (27.3%) and free throw percentage (74.6%), fourth in scoring margin (+2.8), field goal percentage (39.8%), assist/turnover ratio (0.8) and three-pointers per game (6.2), and fifth in three-point shooting (32.7%). On the individual level, G'mrice Davis' 12.4 rebounds per game leads the league as does her 9.6 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 and Kate Kreslina's hot shooting against St. Bonaventure has her sixth with 39.3% shooting from deep.
 
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 2/8/17): Davis' 310 rebounds, 9.6 defensive rebounds per game and 12.4 rebounding average are all second in the nation. Additionally, her 16 double-doubles rank third in the country. Davis has tallied 13 or more rebounds in 14 contests and has notched double-doubles in 12 of her last 14 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 matches that through 25 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' 310 rebounds currently rank fifth-most in a single season and her 7.7 career average is fourth-highest in program history.
 
Actively One of the Best from Deep
Hannah Missry has amassed 290 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), Amy Waugh (Xavier '00-'03) and now Stefanie Collins (St. Bonaventure '02-'06) for fifth all-time in league history. Missry needs just two more makes to enter the top-three 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 recently 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 51-of-144 from deep (35.4%) and has enjoyed some success in recent games, hitting between two and five triples in eight of the last 12 contests. Her 2.0 per-game average is fifth in the conference.
 
49 To Go
Missry is 49 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 Provides Punch Off Bench
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, was 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 last Wednesday, Kelly played over 20 minutes for the third consecutive game but tallied just two points.
 
Fordham's Charity
Fordham is 52nd in the country thus far with a 74.4% 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. However, the Rams have fallen back down a spot after shooting 8-of-12 against St. Bonaventure. The current 74.4% mark would be the third-best in program history.
 
Fomina Facilitating Off the Bench
Fomina is second on the team with 53, despite averaging just 14.8 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, and enjoyed a solid stretch of between three and five dimes in six straight contests over a three-week span from mid-December to early-January.
 
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 one more remaining home Atlantic 10 contest, the nationally televised (on NBC Sports Network) home season finale against Dayton on February 19.
 
You can purchase single game tickets for all home contests here.
 
Up Next
Fordham hosts Massachusetts on Saturday at 2 p.m. It is the team's annual Play4Kay event.