Women's Basketball Hosts 12th Annual Fordham Holiday Classic this Weekend

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (7-5) wraps up its nonconference schedule with the 12th annual Fordham Holiday Classic this weekend, welcoming Saturday's opponent, Maine (7-4), as well as Chattanooga (4-9) and Middle Tennessee State (7-3) to the Rose Hill Gym this weekend.
 
Fans can watch Fordham's games on the ESPN+ ($) stream, listen on WFUV, and follow along with live stats via the links above. International viewers must CLICK HERE to watch.
 
Saturday is also 'Take a Kid to a Game Day', in honor of Coach Gaitley's late father Harry Vanderslice. All kids 12 years and younger will get into the game for FREE.
 
Holiday Classic Youth Clinic
The Fordham women's basketball program will be hosting a Youth Clinic prior to its first game of the 12^th Annual Holiday Classic. The pre-game clinic is FREE and open to all girls eighth grade and under and all boys sixth grade and under. The clinic begins at 11 a.m. and attendees will be able to buy an All-Day Saturday ticket for $3. For more information, CLICK HERE.
 
Last Time Out
After allowing opponents to score 50 or more points in each prior contest, the Rams have now held back-to-back opponents under 50, with Iona's 40 points representing a season-low and the fewest by a foe since Northern Colorado scored 33 a year ago in the Bronx. Fordham downed Iona, 57-40, with terrific defense and interior scoring, using a 19-8 second quarter to take the lead for good in the contest. After a sluggish opening 10 minutes, with the two schools tied, 10-10, the Rams finished the first half with 11 unanswered points to lead by nine at the break. Iona would get within seven late in the third quarter but again Fordham used a lengthy scoring run, this time 10 unanswered points, to see out the victory.
 
Bre Cavanaugh notched her third career double-double (all this year) with 15 points and personal-best 12 rebounds to lead the Rams. Kaitlyn Downey matched her season-high of 12 points, while Mary Goulding stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a block. Lauren Holden chipped in 10 points and Megan Jonassen added six points and two boards off the bench, as well. Fordham struggled mightily from behind the arc, hitting just 1-of-17 attempts, the lowest tally since February 2014, but the Rams made up for it by converting 20-of-30 two-point attempts in the game. 
 
Series Histories
Maine has won each of the previous two meetings during a home-and-home series back in 2000-01. The Black Bears were victorious at home, 66-51, in the first meeting and 52-39 winners a year later. The Rams have never played Chattanooga or Middle Tennessee State.
 
Holding Onto the Rock
Fordham is fourth in the country in limiting turnovers, with just 10.9 per game through the team's first 12 contests and behind only UConn, Oregon, and Wyoming, the only four to average fewer than 11. The Rams have coughed the ball up just 131 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 3.3 fewer turnovers than the next A-10 team, Saint Louis.
 
The Rams have three of the top 11 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Zara Jillings (2.9) is second in the league, Bre Cavanaugh is tied for seventh (1.7), and Kaitlyn Downey is tied for 11th (1.5). Of the six Rams who play 20 minutes or more, five have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
Coach Gaitley Reaches 150 Fordham Victories
The 68-49 win over Columbia 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 12 games to open the 2018-19 season, the Rams have had seven double-doubles by four different players. Redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, who had zero entering this season, leads the way with three, following her 15-point, 12-rebound outburst at Iona last week. Senior Mary Goulding has two near-identical ones - grabbing 12 rebounds twice and scoring 16 against Charlotte and 15 at Northeastern. 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 10.3 and 9.0 points per game, and second and first in assists, with 36 and 28, respectively, while Jillings chips in 4.8 points and 23 assists off the bench. The Kiwis has combined to average 24.1 points per game, or 38.8% of the team's scoring, 14.7 rebounds (42.5% of the team's rebounding), and 87 assists, or 57.6% of the team's total of 151. 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 two weeks ago 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.
 
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 (146-of-415 – 35.2%). Five different Rams already have at least 17 offensive boards and six are in double figures. Mary Goulding has 36-of-81 offensive boards, Megan Jonassen and Bre Cavanaugh are next with 19, and Kaitlyn Downey and Zara Jillings each have 17. 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.
 
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 84.8% 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 933, as well as enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 110 and 95, 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 46 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 260 field goals, 92 three-pointers, and 191 free throws, with an average of 5.2 rebounds per game, a 85-68 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 54 steals. She is on pace to join the 1,000-point club towards the end of this season, currently at 803 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 ninth in the country with 37.8 minutes played per game and Holden is 10th at 37.5. A starter midway through her freshman year, Holden became the 15th Ram to surpass 3,000 career minutes, now up to 3,630 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 61-63 (49.2%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 36-3 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 5-0 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.
 
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 nine three-pointers away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is nine free throws away from 200
- Bre Cavanaugh is 15 assists away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is 13 rebounds away from 250
- Bre Cavanaugh is four starts and games played away from 50
- Mary Goulding is eight starts away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 39 field goals away from 200
- Mary Goulding is 34 rebounds away from 350
- Kendell Heremaia is 34 assists away from 100
- Kendell Heremaia is 13 three-pointers away from 50
- Lauren Holden is 67 points away from 1,000
- Lauren Holden is 28 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is five starts away from 100
- Lauren Holden is 27 assists away from 250
 - Zara Jillings is 25 assists away from 100
 
Up Next
Atlantic 10 play begins in earnest next weekend as Fordham travels to defending champions George Washington for a nationally televised (CBS SN) Saturday matinee. The two schools with tip off at 11 a.m. on January 5th.