Women's Basketball at Penn State Sunday for WNIT Second Round

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Game Notes

Bronx, N.Y. -- The Fordham women's basketball team (22-11, 11-5 A-10) used a massive 27-point third quarter to rally and overtake Georgetown on the road in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Friday night to set up a second round date at Penn State (20-10, 9-7 Big Ten) on Sunday at 2 p.m. It is the third straight WNIT second round appearance in the last five years for the Rams.

Last Time Out at Georgetown
The Rams found themselves down 11 at halftime and up 11 at the final whistle. As has happened several times this year, it was a tale of two halves for Fordham, mustering just six points in the first quarter and eight in the second, on a combined 24.1% shooting and 0-of-12 from behind the arc. Danielle Padovano's floater cut the deficit to three, 17-14, midway through the second period, as the Rams were beginning to find their footing, but the Hoyas finished the half on an 8-0 run to take a 25-14 lead into the break. Fordham came alive in the third quarer, however, limiting Georgetown to just 11 points and exploding for 27, including five straight offensive possessions with a three-pointer, three from Hannah Missry and two from Mary Goulding. G'mrice Davis busted loose, as well, and made several big baskets down the stretch to push the team's lead beyond 10. The Rams, who had made just 1-of-2 free throws through the first three periods, hit 10-of-12 in the final frame to hold on for the 60-49 victory, just the team's fifth road win of the year. Both Goulding and Davis double-doubled, the 23rd of the season for the latter and the second straight for the former, with the sophomore leading the way with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Series History vs. Penn State
The two schools have met just three times since 1994 and the Lady Lions have won all three in State College, Pa. Fordham and Penn State have met twice in the last four years, in the second game of the season in 2013 and the season opener two years ago. Most recently, Fordham fell, 75-59, in 2015.

Scouting the Lady Lions
Like the Rams, Penn State is extremely successful on its home court, only dropping one home game out of 16 this year, the Big Ten-opener against Indiana in late December, 89-70. The Lady Lions Lions average 73.3 points per game and have an average margin of victory of seven points. They are solid shooters in all facets and limit their turnovers, as well, with the team's top five players in scoring all with a positive assist/turnover ratio. They average 40 rebounds per game, too, and in their Big Ten Tournament loss to 15-win Minnesota, set a conference record with 50 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass. They will be a tough match-up for Fordham. The Lady Lions are led by terrific 5-7 sophomore guard Teniya Page, who was recently named All-Big Ten First Team and became the fourth sophomore in Penn State history to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. Page averages 19.7 points per game and is a great shooter from all over the court, hitting 44.3% of her overall shots and 42.8% from downtown, and is also second in the squad with 105 assists and 36 steals. Graduate student Sierra Moore and Lindsey Spann  each average 10.5 points per contest and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Kaliyah Mitchell has been coming on strong as of late and averages 7.3 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game. Three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Coquese Washington has a big rotation, with nine players averaging 10 minutes or more that all contribute in multiple ways. Penn State defeated Ohio, 74-65, in the first round Friday behind a game-high 20 points by Moore. Page nearly double-doubled with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds, plus three assists and steals in 34 minutes, as did Mitchell with eight points and 10 boards. The Lady Lions had six players with at least eight points, three coming off the bench.

Davis Named First-Team All-Conference
Junior forward G'mrice Davis has enjoyed a tremendous campaign and was rewarded for her performance with both First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team recognition. She is the second Ram to ever garner first team honors in the A-10 behind Erin Rooney and the third to be named All-Defensive, with the most recent being former teammate Samantha Clark last season. Davis has led the Rams with 14.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per game this year, with 23 double-doubles, and has been ranked second nationally among the major rebounding categories for nearly the entire year. She is the second Ram to ever average more than 10 boards per game and her 421 rebounds rank fifth all-time in program history.

Kreslina, Missry Also Garner End-of-Season Accolades
Redshirt freshman Kate Kreslina earned All-Rookie honors by starting all 28 contests that she was available for this season and providing a steady presence with her terrific two-way play. The Latvian international has averaged 8.8 points per game on 39.8% shooting from the field and 37.9% from behind the arc, while playing just 27.6 minutes per contest. Kreslina is third in the squad with 86 rebounds, fourth with 49 assists, and fourth with 33 three-pointers. Senior Hannah Missry earned All-Academic honors for her efforts on and off the court. Missry finished her undergraduate degree in three years and is expected to attain her Master's degree in May in Media Management, holding a 3.9 GPA in her grad studies adn a 3.74 GPA in undergrad. She also recently became the third student-athlete to make 300 threes in Atlantic-10 history and is Fordham's all-time leader from behind the arc by a wide margin, 70 more than Heather Donlon '93.

Gaitley Makes History
Stephanie Gaitley reached 100 wins with the Fordham program against Little Rock on November 19 and later won her 116th at home against Massachusetts, 74-43, passing Kathy Mosolino ('74-'80) for the most wins in program history. Gaitley tied and passed the milestone with two typical Gaitley-inspired performances, with three-pointers and excellent defense, holding both opponents below 50 points. She has now reached 116 wins at three different schools: Fordham, Richmond, and Saint Joseph's.

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 174 but needs 67 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.

20 Wins
The 66-61 double overtime win at La Salle was Fordham's 20th win of the season. It is the fourth time under Stephanie Gaitley that the Rams have amassed 20 or more wins. It is the 16th season that Gaitley has personally won 20 or more, out of 31 seasons. Previously, there had been just five 20-win seasons in program history -- three with Kathy Mosolino (1977-80), one under Christina Wielgus (1991-92), and one under Kevin Morris (1993-94).

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, former teammate Erin Rooney '14, fellow three-point extrodinaire Heather Donlon '93, and Christie Kennedy '92, now sits 14th with 1,130 career points. With 16 points, she will pass Cecelia Wanker '83.

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 be currently enrolled in a  masters program as seniors, was told. Interestingly, all three are also earning the same degree -- Media Management, and are expected to attain their degrees later this year.

G'mrice is Rolling
The Philly native is absolutely rolling over her past 22 games, scoring in double figures in every contest and missing out on a double-double just three times. Since a season-low four points against St. John's at home on December 13, the junior has been averaging 16.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest on 48.5% shooting to go with 11 blocks and 18 steals across a team-high 34.2 minutes. During the stretch, Davis has collected two A-10 Player of the Week honors, First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive honors, and the Rams have gone 15-7. Over her last five games, Davis is averaging 14.2 points AND rebounds across 37.0 minutes.

You Know You're Gould
Sophomore transfer Mary Goulding had been a solid bench piece for most of this season, sprinkling in rebounds, assists, and plays that don't make it onto the stat sheet. After missing two games due to illness at the start of the new year, Goulding played a total of 38 minutes over her next seven contests. However, she was inserted into the starting lineup on February 9 against Saint Joseph's and has impressed since. Her first two games were shaky but she took off after that, putting up matching six point/seven rebound lines at Davidson and at home against Dayton, grabbing nine offensive rebounds of 14 total. In the first round of the A-10 Championship, Goulding notched five points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out three assists in 25 minutes, but has saved her best for last, with her first two career double-doubles and the only ones that haven't come from G'mrice Davis, over her last two games. Against Saint Louis on March 3, the New Zealand international posted 17 points and 11 rebounds in just 26 minutes. At Georgetown on Friday night, she one-upped herself with 19 points on identical 6-of-9 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, three assists, a block, and two triples. She also played more than 30 minutes for the first time, with 37. Over her last six games, the Kiwi is averaging 8.8 points and 7.8 rebounds (20 offensive rebounds) on 54.3% overall shooting, plus 12 assists.

60 is the Magic Number?
The Rams are 15-0 when scoring 60 or more points this season. Fordham is also 11-1 when holding opponents under 50 points (and 13-1 when holding them at 52 or under).

Iron Women
Seniors Danielle Burns, Hannah Missry, and Danielle Padovano have been three 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 130th career appearance against Georgetown. She has made 71 overall starts, including a stretch of 47 straight, coming off the bench for seven games before starting on Friday. Hannah Missry is a four-year starter who has made 122 starts in 127 appearances. Danielle Padovano played in her 120th game on Friday.
They are the fifth, sixth, and seventh Rams, respectively, to ever make 120 appearances. Missry is second all-time in career starts behind former teammate Samantha Clark '16, who made 126 starts. Burns has passed both Anne Gregory '80 and former teammate Abigail Corning '14 for third all-time, while Missry has just tied them.

Got a Minute?
Expanding on the durability of Burns and Missry, the former recently became the 14th player in school history to play 3,000 minutes for the Rams. She's currently at 3,037. Missry, however, as a four-year starter, recently surged up the top-10 and currently sits third all-time with  3,768 minutes played. Missry has started 70 consecutive contests.

Defense, Defense, Defense
Saint Joseph's ended the ultimate Stephanie Gaitley-inspired 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 also to Saint Joseph's, in the 2013 A-10 Championship game at the Barclays Center, 47-46. The Rams began a new streak by defeating St. Bonaventure, 57-45, and then made it three straight by holding the Hawks to 39 points and UMass to 43.  The Hoyas were held to 49 points on Friday night. This season, Fordham is 11-1 in such contests, including five in conference play, plus holding Duquesne to 51 points on December 1. Overall, under Gaitley, the Rams are 50-5 in such wins.

Defense Part Deux
Through 33 games this season, Fordham's defense has limited opposing scoring to just 55.8 points per contest, ranking 18th in the country. Part of that is due to the Rams' stingy perimeter D that has held opponents to just 27.0% (107-for-400) shooting from beyond the arc, currently situated at eighth nationally. Before Saint Louis shot 8-of-19 on March 3, Fordham had held its previous six opponents to just 15-of-82 shooting from deep (18.3%), but Fordham got back on track by limiting the Hoyas to 2-of-16 shooting from deep.

Threes and Free Throws, All-Time
Fordham has made 214 threes this season, ranked 85th in the country, and are converting free throws at a 75.7% clip. The total number of threes is second-most all-time in a season in program history and, similarly, that free throw percentage currently ranks third in school history. The 2012-13 Rams made 207 threes and a year later, the team made a record 244, both under Coach Gaitley.

Conference Play
Fordham finished league play with a 11-5, good for fifth place. It had been a roller coaster ride for the Rams in conference action, first matching the program's best-ever start, in any league, with six straight wins before dropping four consecutive contests, then winning three in a row at home before a last-second loss at Davidson and then two straight thrilling wins to wrap up the regular season. Fordham outscored opponents 60.4 to 54.4 (+6.0) with G'mrice Davis leading the way with 15.5 points and 12.4 rebounds per game and a double-double in all but three games - against Duquesne where she missed it by one point (9 pts, 10 reb), Dayton where she missed by one rebound, and at St. Bonaventure where she finished with just seven boards. The junior converted her attempts at a 49.3% clip.  Danielle Burns, Kate Kreslina, Hannah Missry, and Lauren Holden all chipped in between 9.3 and 8.0 points per game, as well, with Burns leading the squad with 34 assists, five more than Asnate Fomina, who had 29 despite playing just 13.6 minutes off the bench. Hannah Missry hit 39.6% of her A-10 three-point attempts (36-of-91) and averaged 8.6 points per game. Kate Kreslina shot 37.6% from the floor, while Anna Kelly converted at a 43.5% rate off the bench. 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.

The Bronx is Our House
The Rams are 16-3 this season in the Bronx, as opposed to a 5-6 record on the road and 1-2 at neutral sites. They are 7-1 at home during conference play for the second year in a row. Since Stephanie Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, Fordham holds a 71-24 (74.7%) record at home and a 66-16 (80.5%) record over the last five seasons.

A-10 Ranks
The Rams are atop the league in scoring defense (55.8 pts/game), free throw percentage (75.7%), three-point defense (27.0%), and rebounding defense, holding opponents to just 33.2 boards per game. Fordham is also fourth in scoring margin (+4.1), field goal percentage (39.3%), assist/turnover ratio (0.8), three-pointers per game (6.5), and three-point shooting (33.3%). On the individual level, G'mrice Davis' 12.8 rebounds per game leads the league as does her 10.2 defensive boards. Davis' 48.3% percentage from the field ranks third. Hannah Missry's 2.0   triples per contest ranks fifth-most in the conference, as well.

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 3/18/17): Davis' 421 rebounds, 10.2 defensive rebounds per game and 12.8 rebounding average are all second in the nation. Additionally, her 23 double-doubles rank second, as well. Davis has tallied 12 or more rebounds in 20 contests and has notched double-doubles in 19 of her last 22 contests.

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, 12.5, came in 1979-80 during her senior year and G'mrice Davis currently bests that by .3. She will be just the second Ram to ever grab double figure rebounds per contest over a season. Davis' 421 boards currently rank fifth-most in a single season, one behind Gregory's lowest tally, and her 8.2 career average is third-highest in program history.

Actively One of the Best from Deep
Hannah Missry has amassed 306 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), Stefanie Collins (St. Bonaventure '02-'06), both Cathy Jones (George Washington '00-'04) and Suzie Dailer (St. Bonaventure '92-'95), and now Nicole Levandusky (Xavier '98-'01) for second all-time. Missry is the third player in Atlantic 10 history to reach 300 career threes.

Limiting Fouls and Turnovers
Fordham ranks inside the top-110 in both categories, ranking 97th with just 453 turnovers this season and 106th overall with 513 fouls committed. The Rams cough up the ball just 13.7 times per game and commit 15.5 fouls per game as a team, ranked 52nd and 54th, respectively.

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 La Salle in double overtime, Davis played 41 minutes, a new career-best after hitting the 40-minute mark three times during the regular season.

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 67-of-198 from deep (34.2%) and has enjoyed some success in recent games, hitting between two and five triples in 12 of the last 18 contests. Her 2.0 per-game average ranks fifth in the conference.

33 To Go
Missry is 33 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 remain second-most all-time in league history.

Kelly Provides Punch Off Pine
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 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.

Fordham's Charity
Fordham is 28th in the country thus far with a 75.7% clip from the free throw line. The Rams have spent a large portion of this season atop the A-10 leaderboards. That current mark would be the third-best in program history.

Fomina Facilitating Off the Bench
Fomina leads the team with 64 dimes, 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.

Spreading the Wealth
While most teams will have a standout point guard who racks up all the assists, Fordham's offense doesn't flow through any one player. The Rams spread the ball around pretty evenly and it has resulted in four players having between 52 and 64 assists on the year. Asnate Fomina leads the way with 64 off the bench but Danielle Burns' 60 is right behind her as is guard Lauren Holden's 59. Two others, G'mrice Davis and Hannah Missry also contribute 42 and 32 dimes, respectively.

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.

Up Next
The winner of Sunday's contest will play either Navy or Virginia Tech sometime between March 22-24.