Women's Basketball at Iona on Friday

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (6-5) is coming off its second-largest win over the season and, after a 10-day hiatus, is back in action Friday afternoon at Iona (1-9) for a noon tip-off. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Fans can watch the ESPN+ ($) stream, listen on WFUV, and follow along with live stats via the links above. International viewers must CLICK HERE to watch.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham bounced back from a two-game skid to drop Columbia, 68-49, last Tuesday night in the Bronx, the team's second-largest margin of victory of the year. The Rams never trailed in the contest and jumped out to a massive 27-11 lead after the opening 10 minutes. The hosts struggled to score in the second and fourth quarters, combining for 20 points, but never had to worry thanks to their first-quarter explosion and 21 more points in the third.
 
The Rams shot a season-high 53.8% (28-of-52) from the field, the third-highest mark in the last five years for the program, thanks to seven different Rams shooting 50% or better from the floor on the evening. Bre Cavanaugh led the team in scoring for a 10th time this year with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 6-of-8 from the line, with four rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block over 38 minutes. Joining her in double figures were seniors Mary Goulding (14 points, four boards, two assists, and a steal) and Lauren Holden (12 points) who combined to shoot 11-of-18 with four three-pointers. Kaitlyn Downey returned to the starting lineup and chipped in seven points, four boards, and two assists in 21 minutes. Kendell Heremaia, despite shooting just 2-of-9 from the floor, notched four points, rebounds, and assists, while Zara Jillings helped across the board with six points, a team-high eight rebounds, and three assists in 22 minutes.
 
Series History vs. Iona
Fordham holds an all-time 25-20 advantage over one of its oldest rivals, dating back to 1973. The Rams enjoyed the majority of success in the 80s and 90s but the Gaels have since taken ahold of the rivalry, winning eight of the last 11 meetings since 1997. In New Rochelle, the two schools have each earned 10 victories, with the Gaels coming out on top in the last six meetings at Hynes Center. Fordham snapped a three-game losing skid with a big 78-48 win in the Bronx a year ago.
 
Holding Onto the Rock
Fordham leads the country in turnovers per game, with just 10.6 through its opening 11 contests, .2 and .3 ahead of national powerhouses Oregon and UConn, respectively. Those three schools are the only teams averaging less than 11 per game. The Rams have coughed the ball up just 117 times, 10th-fewest in the country despite playing one or more games than the schools ahead of them. Fordham has committed between seven and 15 turnovers thus far this season, with four single-digit turnover performances. The season-low seven turnovers came against Charlotte on November 18th, the lowest number since Coach Gaitley's 600th career victory last January 25th against St. Bonaventure, when they had just 10, and last time with seven or fewer since December 9th, 2017 against Iona, when they had six. Fordham has 3.4 fewer turnovers than the next A-10 team, Duquesne.
 
The Rams have three of the top 11 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Zara Jillings (3.7) tops the league, Kaitlyn Downey is third (2.3), and Bre Cavanaugh is ninth (1.8). Mary Goulding (1.5) is tied for 11th.
 
Coach Gaitley Reaches 150 Fordham Victories
The 68-49 win over Columbia last Tuesday night was head coach Stephanie Gaitley's 150th in charge of the Fordham women's basketball program. She became the program's all-time winningest coach in 2016 and picked up career victory number 600 last year.
 
Other milestone Fordham victories for Coach Gaitley include:
                - First win: at home against Cleveland State, 52-43, on 11/16/11
                - 50th win: at home against Saint Louis, 74-52, on 1/2/14
                - 63rd win: in the A-10 Championship game against Dayton, 63-51, on 3/9/14, in Richmond, Va.
                - 100th win: against Little Rock, 65-43, at home in the opening round of the preseason WNIT on 11/19/16
                - 116th win (to become program's leader in wins): vs. Massachusetts, 74-43, on 2/11/17
 
Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Through 11 games to open the 2018-19 season, the Rams have had six double-doubles by four different players. Senior Mary Goulding has two near-identical ones - grabbing 12 rebounds twice and scoring 16 against Charlotte and 15 at Northeastern, and with her 27-point, 11-rebound performance against Manhattan, redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh now has two on the year and in her career. Kaitlyn Downey posted 11 points and 11 rebounds against Penn State for her first career double-double and Kendell Heremaia did the same with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Washington. G'mrice Davis graduated in May tied for a NCAA-wide lead with 57 career double-doubles and had 27 last year alone.
 
Kiwis Coming Through
Fordham's Kiwi contingent of Mary Goulding, Kendell Heremaia, and Zara Jillings combined for 37 points against Charlotte, including 22 in the fourth quarter alone out of the team's 29 points. Jillings hit a three-pointer in the corner then fed Heremaia for a layup to retake the lead for good and Goulding scored 12 points the rest of the way, all from the field, to secure the victory. Against Ball State, with Goulding struggling with her shot (despite tallying seven boards and a game-high six dimes), Heremaia and Jillings each set new career-highs in scoring, with 15 and 12 points, respectively, with the former matching her career-high six field goals and three triples, the latter notching a personal-best two steals to go with eight rebounds and five assists. The trio combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds against Washington and Heremaia netted a career-best 17 points against Texas in the Gulf Coast Showcase final.
 
Goulding and Heremaia are second and third on the team in scoring, respectively, with 10.4 and 9.8 points per game, and second and first in assists, with 33 and 25, respectively, while Jillings chips in 5.2 points and 22 assists off the bench. The Kiwis has combined to average 25.4 points per game, or 40.5% of the team's scoring, 14.9 rebounds, or 42.8 of the team's rebounding, and 80 assists, or 56.3% of the team's total of 142. Against Manhattan on December 1st was the first time all three have started together.
 
Cavanaugh Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
The redshirt sophomore was rewarded for an excellent performance at the Gulf Coast Showcase by earning her first career conference Player of the Week honor. Cavanaugh averaged 22.3 points on 42.1% shooting, 35.5% from deep, with 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.7 steals over 37.3 minutes per game. Click here to read more about Bre's week.
 
Mary Goulding Named Atlantic 10 and National Jesuit Player of the Week
The New Zealand international earned her first weekly career accolades last month by averaging a double-double (13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds) agianst Penn State and Charlotte. The senior captain recorded 11 points and nine boards against the Lady Lions and was instrumental in the team's fourth-quarter rally against the 49ers, scoring 12 of her 16 points in the period alone. Goulding added 12 boards, a career-high two blocks, a steal, and an assist, and hauled in five offensive boards in each contest. Click here to read more about Mary's week.
 
Crashing the Offensive Glass
Last year, nearly one-third of the Rams' 1,268 total rebounds came on the offensive glass (408 - 32.1%). Fordham lost leading rebounder G'mrice Davis in the offseason but the Rams haven't missed a beat thus far in 2018-19, hauling in just under 40% of their total boards on the offensive glass (138-of-383 – 36.0%). Five different Rams already have at least 16 offensive boards. Mary Goulding has 32-of-72 offensive boards, Megan Jonassen is next with 19 already off the bench, Kaitlyn Downey and Zara Jillings each have 17, and Bre Cavanaugh has 16. Kendell Heremaia also has 10. Fordham has had between 14 and 19 offensive rebounds in seven contests this year, including the first six of the year.
 
Heremaia Cruising
Sophomore Kendell Heremaia has been tremendous for the Rams this year, starting all 11 contests, after making seven starts in 33 appearances last year, leading the team with 33 assists, and averaging 9.8 points per game. The Whangarei, New Zealand native has set four new highs in scoring, starting with 13 in the season opener against Wagner and culiminating in 17 against #10 Texas. Heremaia has hit at least one three-pointer in all but two games and has shot 50% or better in six contests. Prior to her cold shooting against Columbia, the sophomore was shooting 47.7% from the field and 43.2% from behind the arc. Heremaia is also chipping in 4.5 rebounds, third-highest on the team. After playing between 16 and 25 minutes the first five games, she played between 29 and 36 in five straight games before playing 25 against Columbia.
 
Holden Ascending the All-Time Ranks
Having played the eighth-most minutes in Fordham history, it's no surprise to see Lauren Holden's name already in the record book. The Cape May, N.J. native's four three-pointers the last two games have pushed her into the all-time top-five for three-pointers made, past Maureen Garvey ('01) and now current Director of Ops Abigail Corning ('14). Her 84.4% career rate from the free-throw line sits fifth all-time, as well. She is also on pace to become the 21st member of the program's 1,000-point club, currently at 923, as well as enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 109 and 94, respectively.
 
G'mrice Thriving in Greece
Former Fordham standout forward G'mrice Davis, the program's first All-American honorable mention, signed her first professional contract with GAS Kalyvion in the Greek A1 league over the summer and, through her team's first seven contests, is leading the league in scoring (18.1 points per game) and rebounding (15.3 per game), and is chipping in 1.9 steals, as well, as Kalyvion is fourth in the table with a 4-3 record. The top four teams in the league advance to the playoffs. Eurobasket.com named G'mrice the league's Player of the Week last week. Click here to read an interview with G'mrice about her time abroad.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 45 contests in her Fordham career and has been nothing short of spectacular for the Rams during her time in maroon and white. The redshirt sophomore finished her freshman season with the second-most minutes ever played in a single campaign, with 1,306, and is averaging 38.2 minutes per game so far in her career. She is averaging 17.5 points per game with 254 field goals, 92 three-pointers, and 188 free throws, with an average of 5.0 rebounds per game, a 84 assist-to-66 turnover ratio, and 54 steals. She is on pace to join the 1,000-point club towards the end of this season, currently at 788 career points.
 
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 on a per-game basis (39.2). Bre Cavanaugh was right there with her, playing the second-most minutes in a single year (1,306) and averaging 38.4 per game, ranked ninth and sixth nationally, respectively. This year is no different as Cavanaugh is 11th in the country with 37.8 minutes played per game and Holden is 12th at 37.5. A starter midway through her freshman year, Holden became the 15th Ram to surpass 3,000 career minutes, now up to 3,592 for her career, which ranks seventh all-time, recently passing Annie Zopf ('09) against Charlotte, Denise Hammersley ('95) against Ball State, and now Kristina Bell ('11) against Columbia.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 90-28 (76.3%) record at home across 118 contests. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Rams are 34-7 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, Gaitley's Rams are 60-63 (48.8%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 37-4 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 6-1 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. The loss at Pittsburgh was the first while scoring over 60 since a double-overtime loss at Saint Louis last January 31st.
 
Three Sign Their NLIs
Coach Gaitley and the program announced three future additions to the team as Anna DeWolfe, Eden Johnson, and Sarah Karpell signed their National Letters of Intent. To read more about the newest Rams, click here.
 
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. Click here to read more.
 
Career Milestone Watch
- Bre Cavanaugh is 12 points away from 800
- Bre Cavanaugh is eight three-pointers away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is 12 free throws away from 200
- Bre Cavanaugh is 16 assists away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is five starts and games played away from 50
- Mary Goulding is seven starts away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 33 field goals away from 200
- Mary Goulding is 30 rebounds away from 350
- Kendell Heremaia is 37 assists away from 100
- Kendell Heremaia is 13 three-pointers away from 50
- Lauren Holden is 77 points away from 1,000
- Lauren Holden is 28 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is one appearance away from 110
- Lauren Holden is six starts away from 100
- Lauren Holden is eight minutes away from 3,600
- Lauren Holden is 28 assists away from 250
 - Zara Jillings is 26 assists away from 100
 
Up Next
The Rams host the 12th annual Fordham Holiday Classic next weekend, featuring Chattanooga, Maine, and Middle Tennessee State on Saturday and Sunday, December 29-30. Fordham opens the tournament against Maine at 1 p.m. on Saturday.