Davis, Defense Lead Women's Basketball to 43-38 Win at Richmond

Box Score (pdf)

Richmond, Va. – The Fordham women's basketball team's offense struggled for stretches on the road at Richmond on Sunday afternoon but its top-15 nationally-ranked defense was, as usual, up for the challenge, holding the Spiders below 50 points for the first time all season in a 43-38 victory at the Robins Center. With the win, the Rams improve to 15-5 overall and 6-1 in Atlantic 10 action, while the Spiders fall to 7-13 and 2-5, respectively.
 
Senior forward G'mrice Davis came alive after halftime scoring 14 of her 20 points in the second half and notching her ninth straight double-double with 10 rebounds. Junior Mary Goulding returned to the starting lineup and led the Rams in rebounding, a first this season with Davis active, with 13 boards in addition to her seven points. Bre Cavanaugh struggled with her shot, hitting just 1-of-9 from the field, but matching a season-high with eight rebounds. She and Zara Jillings shared the game high with three assists. For the first time since the team's win over Hartford on December 28, no player played all 40 minutes.
 
Fordham came out on top of a sluggish first quarter, 11-8, but the Spiders took the lead early in the second frame with four unanswered points. The Rams offense kicked into gear, though, by scoring eight consecutive points to lead, 19-12, towards the end of the half, but Richmond countered yet again with a 6-0 run over the final three minutes to get within one at the break, 19-18.
 
Lauren Holden kicked the second half off with a three and a Goulding layup a minute later would push the lead up to five, 24-19. The Spiders didn't back down and fought to tie the game a fourth time, 25-25, with 3:30 to play and retook the lead on a Micaela Parson jumper. Holden knotted things back up with a floater but immediately after on the other end Kailyn Fee sunk a long three-pointer to give the hosts their largest lead of the afternoon. It didn't take long for Fordham to answer, though, with Davis hitting a mid-range jumper to get within one and, with 46 seconds to go in the period, driving through traffic to retake the lead with a layup, 31-30.
 
The first seven-plus minutes of the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Fordham holding serve for most of the frame. Richmond called a timeout at the six-minute mark, 36-32, and came out of the break with energy and a run that would retake the lead once again with six unanswered points. Parson drilled two mid-range jumpers and Alicia Hudalla's layup put the Spiders up, 38-36, with three minutes to go. Coach Gaitley called a timeout as the Robins Center grew louder but the Rams remained composed and battled to go ahead for good. Davis hit one of two free throws and on the team's next possession, hit a turnaround jumper in the lane for the lead, 39-38. Fordham's defense would hold Richmond scoreless over the final three minutes as free-throw shooting pushed the final tally to 43.
 
Fordham held Richmond to just 30.2% shooting from the field and 11.1% from three-point range, plus just six free-throw attempts. The Rams shot 38.6% themselves but just 25.0% (2-of-8) from downtown. After not attempting a free throw in the first half, Fordham finished 7-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Rams won the battle of the boards, 40-27, the 11^th time Fordham has held an opponent under 30 boards.
 
The Rams are now 54-5 all-time when holding opponents under 50 points under Coach Gaitley and it was the eighth time an opponent was held under 40 under Gaitley.
 
Fordham returns home to host St. Bonaventure on Thursday night at 7 p.m.