St. Louis, Mo. – In a game of runs and typical back-and-forth action that has characterized recent match-ups between the two schools, it was the Fordham women's basketball team that prevailed in the end, 56-53, on a last-second
Zara Jillings lay-up, at Saint Louis on Sunday evening. With the win, their seventh straight, the Rams improve to 12-5 overall and 3-0 in conference play, while the Billikens fall to 6-10 and 1-2, respectively.
"Incredibly gutsy effort from this young group," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "This weekend was full of adversity, both on and off the court, but we stayed together and pulled out a great road win!"
Fordham took two early leads on a pair of
Kaitlyn Downey three-pointers but the Billikens closed a defensive first quarter on a 7-1 run to lead, 11-9, after the opening 10 minutes. The two schools combined for 8-of-31 shooting from the field, with Fordham shooting just 3-of-17, although the Rams had just one turnover compared to Saint Louis' five.
Held scoreless in the opening period,
Bre Cavanaugh came alive for nine points in the second frame on 4-of-8 shooting, while
Kendell Heremaia continued to dominate the glass, matching her career-high of 10 boards by halftime. The Rams did not commit a turnover in the period and jumped out to a four-point lead, 21-17, at the end of an 8-2 run between Cavanaugh and
Mary Goulding, the latter capping the run with a steal and outlet pass to a streaking Cavanaugh for a lay-up, prompting a Saint Louis timeout. The visitors saw out the half with a slim 5-4 advantage to lead at the break, 26-21.
Saint Louis worked quickly to retake the lead in the second half, working around a Cavanaugh triple to lead, 30-29, with a 9-3 run, forcing Coach Gaitley to call a timeout. Points from the Rams' New Zealand trio of Goulding, Heremaia, and Jillings out of the break kept Fordham in front for the middle portion of the frame, but the Billikens closed out the period on a 12-4 run to lead by five, 44-39, heading to the final 10 minutes.
A Cavanaugh jumper and another Downey three tied the game up 44-all to begin the frame. The two schools traded leads over the next several minutes via a Goulding three and then one from Jordyn Frantz. Following the latter, Cavanaugh canned a jumper to tie the game back up, 49-49, and Jillings' free throw with three minutes to play put the Rams up one. Saint Louis took its final lead on a Chloe Rice stepback jumper with a little over 90 seconds to play but it was short-lived as Goulding knocked down an open trey from the top of the key with 70 seconds to play.
Ciaja Harbison was fouled with 33 seconds on the clock and hit both freebies to tie the game up once again. With the game clock just a few seconds behind the shot clock, Fordham held onto the ball for its entire possession. Cavanaugh dished to Goulding who found Jillings under the basket for the game winner on a wild lay-up. The sophomore was fouled on the shot and converted the three-point play with five seconds left and Saint Louis couldn't get a shot off in the final seconds.
Cavanaugh finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal, while playing all 40 minutes. Goulding and Holden never left the court, either, with the former stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, a team-high five assists, and a steal, and the latter notching four dimes and two points. Downey matched her season-high of 12 points, all from behind the arc, to go with three boards and a season-high two blocks, while Heremaia hauled in a career-best 16 rebounds, six on the offensive glass, the most rebounds since
G'mrice Davis had 18 against Saint Joseph's last March 2
nd. Jillings finished with six points, four boards, and a block in 19 minutes.
Fordham hit 6-of-12 shots in the fourth quarter to rally for the win but were outshot overall, 40.7% to 32.8%, although they shot it better from long range, 36.4% to 33.3%. The Rams grabbed 40 rebounds for a sixth time this year, third in a row, including 14 on the offensive end, the 11
th game this season with 13 or more. The Rams committed just five turnovers on the day, the lowest number since the team had four against Holy Cross on January 6, 2013. Fordham has committed 10 or fewer turnovers this year nine times in 17 games.
The Rams next host VCU on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
