Women's Basketball at Northeastern Sunday

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Bronx, N.Y. – Fresh off a 21-point season-opening victory on Friday night, the Fordham women's basketball team (1-0) will look to build its first winning streak of the new campaign when it travels to Northeastern (1-0) for a 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon contest, its second game in three days to start the year.
 
Links to watch and listen are above as well as ways to follow the action via live stats and in-game Twitter updates.
 
Last Time Out
Preseason First Team All-Conference selection Bre Cavanaugh answered each of Wagner's early baskets with three-pointers to give the home team a 6-4 lead in the super early going on Friday night. The Rams would never relinquish that lead and never led by less than 10 points after going up 21-6 in the first period against the Seahawks. Cavanaugh finished the contest with her first career double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds, and three other Rams finished in double figures, including all-around performances by Kendell Heremaia (a career-high 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists) and Mary Goulding (10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals). Heremaia set new career-highs in points, assists, and three-point makes, and matched her personal-best output in rebounds, as well. Freshman Kaitlyn Downey made her collegiate debut in the starting lineup and scored 12 points in just 19 minutes, while Lauren Holden rounded out the starters with nine points, a career-high three steals, and three assists over a team-high 35 minutes. Fordham shot a blistering 61.1% from the floor in the opening period, including a 6-of-9 rate from downtown, and 61.5% overall from behind the arc in the first half (8-of-13). A 20-6 advantage in the third quarter truly broke things open as the Rams led by 26 heading to the final period. The Rams reached 80 points just once last year, scoring 85 in a double-overtime loss at Saint Louis, and it's the first time in regulation since scoring 85 against Davidson at home on January 4^th, 2017.
 
Series History vs. Northeastern
The two schools have only ever met twice, on both ends of 1982 across two seasons, both at Northeastern and both won by the Huskies. The most recent was on December 11^th of that year and Fordham fell, 79-62.
 
Five Fordham Debuts
Five Rams made their collegiate debuts on Friday night against Wagner. Kaitlyn Downey got the start and scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 from the line across 19 minutes to go with five boards, an assist, and a steal. Redshirt freshman Vilisi Tavui scored four points with a pair of steals in 10 minutes off the bench and was joined by true freshmen Chloe Chaffin, Megan Jonassen, and Catherine Polisano. Polisano hit a first-quarter three for her lone points of the game, Jonassen scored two points and hauled in a pair of offensive rebounds, and Chaffin grabbed three boards and made one of her two freebies. There was five debuts a year ago, as well, the most since 2011.
 
Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll Results
For the second year in a row the Rams have themselves a preseason First Team All-Conference honoree. Last year it was senior G'mrice Davis but this year it is redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, who finished up a sensational rookie campaign with Second Team and All-Rookie distinction plus being named the MBWA's Metropolitan Rookie of the Year. The team, meanwhile, was predicted to finish in a tie for third place, alongside reigning conference champions, George Washington, in what is the highest the Rams have ever been in the annual poll under Coach Gaitley. Read more about the poll here.
 
Gaitley Gets Career Win Number 600
Stephanie Gaitley got her first career win against Siena in December 28, 1985. She got her 500th career victory while at Fordham, against Temple on March 10, 2013, in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals in Philadelphia. After stops at Richmond, Saint Joseph's, LIU Brooklyn, Monmouth, and now in the Bronx, the Ocean City, N.J. native can claim what less than 70 coaches all-time can: 600 career wins. She did it with a 72-48 win over St. Bonaventure on January 25 of this year, on her birthday, to boot, and currently holds a 609-356 all-time record. She became the program's all-time winningest coach in 2016, also against the Bonnies, and has a 145-86 record with the Rams. While with three different schools in the A-10 over her career, she also has the second-most conference wins, 177, but is behind George Washington's Joe McKeown by 63.
 
20 Wins
Last year's Rams finished 24-10, the fifth-most wins in a single year in school history. It was the second consecutive year Fordham has finished with 20 or more wins and the fifth time under Coach Gaitley since 2011-12. The program has only ever had 10 20-win seasons: three with Kathy Mosolino (1977-80), one under Christina Wielgus (1991-92), and one under Kevin Morris (1993-94). It was Gaitley's 17th time winning 20 games or more in her 32-year career.
 
Top-15 Ranked Defense
Gaitley's Rams are known for their stout defense and last year was no different. Fordham allowed just 56.1 points per game to opponents, which ranked 15^th in the country. The Rams allowed just 13 60-point games and held an 11-0 record when opponents scored below 50 points. Two big reasons why was holding opponents to just 29.7% shooting from behind the arc, one of the lowest marks in the country, and outrebounding foes by a margin of 6.6 boards per contest. Under Gaitley, the Rams have been a top-50 defense in all seven seasons and have finished within the top-20 in half of them.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 56-5 record when holding opponents under 50 points during her tenure. Two Januarys ago, Saint Joseph's defeated the Rams, 47-44, at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia, ending a streak of 38 consecutive contests with such victories. The last time before that loss, coincidentally, was also against the Hawks, in the 2013 A-10 Championship game at the Barclays Center, 47-46. Since that streak ended, the Rams have rattled off 14 such wins. Fordham is 21-1 in its last 22 contests with rivals scoring under 50 points.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 87-27 (76.3%) record at home across 114 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 32-6 in the Bronx, including a 13-3 mark in conference play. Last year, Fordham finished 15-3 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, including last year's 9-6 mark, Gaitley's Rams are 58-59 (49.6%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
Got a Minute?
Senior co-captain Lauren Holden set a new Fordham record with 1,333 minutes played last year, which ranked fourth in the country and second in a per-game basis (39.2). Holden went the distance on 21 separate occasions last year, including two 50-minute efforts. Aside from two blowout wins and 33 minutes against Northern Colorado due to foul trouble, Holden played at least 35 minutes in every contest and at least 39 in 23. A starter midway through her freshman year, Holden became the 15^th Ram to surpass 3,000 career minutes, now up to 3,216 for her career, which ranks 10^th all-time. Bre Cavanaugh, meanwhile, was right alongside her with the second-most minutes played in a single season, finishing with 1,306 minutes played and 38.4 per game, ranked ninth and sixth, respectively.
 
Holden Ascending the All-Time Ranks
Having played the 10^th-most minutes in Fordham history, it's not surprise to see Lauren Holden's name already in the record book. The Cape May, N.J. native's lone three on Friday night broke a tie for seventh all-time with Becky Peters ('12), while her 84.2% career rate from the free-throw line sits fifth. She is also on pace to become the 21^st member of the program's 1,000-point club, currently at 845, as well as enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 99 and 84, respectively.
 
Gaitley's 3-and-D Rams
Under Coach Gaitley, the Rams have finished within the top-50 in scoring defense in all seven seasons and within the top-25 in four of those. Her Rams have also tallied the top four three-point totals in school history, with last year's 186 ranking fourth all-time. The record is 244 set by the Atlantic 10 championship-winning team of 2013-14.
 
Bre's 37-Point Night
Bre Cavanaugh set a Fordham freshman record in double overtime at Saint Louis, dropping 37 points on 12-of-30 shooting, 5-of-8 from three-point range, and hitting all eight of her free throw attempts, all over 48 of 50 possible minutes. The 37 points ended up being a season-high among all Atlantic 10 players. Cavanaugh became just the third freshman to ever tally multiple 30-point games, along with Fordham Hall of Famers Anne Gregory O'Connell, Sharon Nast, and Jeanine Radice. In fact, only six players have ever had multiple 30-point performances in a single campaign. Both Cavanaugh's 12 field goals and five triples were both season-highs as were her 30 attempts, the latter also leading the conference last year. The Allamuchy, N.J. native scored the final eight points for Fordham in regulation, including clutch free throws with 10 seconds left to tie the game up, and eight more points in overtime.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 32-3 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 1-0 start to this season. After scoring at or under 55 points across the first six contests last season, the Rams rattled off 21 games with at least 60 points over their final 28 games.
 
Career Milestone Watch
- Bre Cavanaugh is 11 field goals away from 200
- Bre Cavanaugh is 30 three-pointers away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is nine steals away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 62 points away from 400
- Mary Goulding is 11 assists away from 100
- Mary Goulding is four steals away from 50
- Lauren Holden is 55 points away from 900
- Lauren Holden is 44 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is one appearance away from 100
 
Up Next
The Rams look to avenge a pair of losses at Penn State the last two seasons when the Nittany Lions come to the Bronx on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.