Women's Basketball Hosts VCU on Wednesday Night

Watch | Watch (International) | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
Twitter Updates at @FordhamWBB
Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (12-5, 3-0 A-10) will ride a seven-game winning streak into Wednesday night's meeting with VCU (11-5, 3-0 A-10) in a battle of two of the three remaining undefeated Atlantic 10 teams. ESPN+ will once again carry the coverage.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams rallied for a big 56-53 road win at Saint Louis on Sunday evening, winning the game in the final seconds on a Zara Jillings lay-up. The contest was a series of runs and back-and-forth action, with the Rams taking an early lead on a pair of Kaitlyn Downey three-pointers, two of her season-high four, but the Billikens closed out the opening period on a 7-1 run to lead, 11-9, at the end of a defensive 10 minutes. Held scoreless in that first frame, Bre Cavanaugh came alive for nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Kendell Heremaia capped her first half by matching her career-high of 10 rebounds. Fordham did not committ a single turnover in the second and used an 8-2 run to retake the lead, eventually leading, 26-21, at the break. The hosts worked quickly to take back the lead with a 9-3 run, 30-29, although the Rams trio of New Zealanders would keep Fordham on top for the middle portion of the third before a 12-4 Billiken run led to a five-point lead, 44-39, heading to the fourth. Cavanaugh and Downey combined to tie the game to begin the period and the two schools traded blows the rest of the way. Mary Goulding drained a clutch three with a minute to play to put the Rams up two but free throws from Ciaja Harbison with 30 seconds left tied the game up, setting the stage for Jillings' game-winning basket. Cavanaugh used nearly the entire shot clock before dishing to Goulding who found Jillings open under the basket. The sophomore's wild shot while getting fouled fell in and she converted the three-point play.
 
Cavanaugh finished with a game-high 18 points plus six rebounds, two assists, and a steal while playing all 40 minutes. Goulding stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, a team-high five assists, and a steal, Downey matched her season-high of 12 points, all from behind the arc, to go with three boards and a season-high two blocks, and 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 2nd. Jillings finished with six points, four boards, and a block in 19 minutes.
 
Series History vs. VCU
Fordham holds a 4-2 all-time advantage over its rival dating back to 2013, the first year that VCU competed in the Atlantic 10. The two schools have only played each once each year since then, alternating home and away, with Fordham winning the first three games in the series and the most recent, 64-54, on the road, although VCU picked up a pair of wins in 2016-17, winning, 61-58, in the Bronx two seasons ago. Lauren Holden has averaged 8.0 points on 25.0% shooting in her previous three meetings, while Bre Cavanaugh led the Rams to victory last year with 19 points. Mary Goulding missed that contest.
 
Swiper No Swiping
Fordham is once again tops in the country in limiting turnovers, with just 10.5 per game. Wyoming is the only other school to average fewer than 11. Fordham has committed between five and 15 turnovers thus far this season, with five single-digit turnover performances and nine games with 10 or less. Sunday's five turnovers were the fewest since the 2012-13 squad committed just four against Holy Cross on January 6 of that year.
 
The Rams have six of the top 30 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Kaitlyn Downey is sixth (1.8), Zara Jillings is tied for seventh (1.7), Mary Goulding is tied for 10th (1.6), Bre Cavanaugh is tied for 14th (1.5), Kendell Heremaia is tied for 22nd (1.3), and Lauren Holden is tied for 26th (1.2). All six Rams who are averaging 20 or more minutes have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
 
Cavanaugh Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for a Third Time
The redshirt sophomore picked up her third A-10 Player of the Week award this week after averaging 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.0 steals across 38.5 minutes of two wins last week, against Richmond and at Saint Louis. She was also named the National Jesuit Women's Player of the Week for the first time, as well. She was a four-time Rookie of the Week winner last year.
 
Seven-Game Winning Streak
The Rams have rattled off seven straight wins since opening nonconference action with a 5-5 record. During the run, Fordham has wins at Iona, over Maine and Middle Tennessee State at the 12th Annual Holiday Classic, at George Washington, Richmond at home, and now at Saint Louis to begin conference play. Here are some key stats from the team's winning streak:
                - Average margin of victory: 60.6 to 4870 (+11.9)
                - Outshooting opponents 40.9% to 38.9% overall and 33.3% to 22.3% from behind the arc
                - Outrebounding opponents 36.3 to 28.0 (+8.3), including 90-49 on the offensive glass
                - Bre Cavanaugh averaging 16.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals over 39.4 minutes
                - Mary Goulding averaging 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per gagme
                - Lauren Holden averaging 10.9 points on 46.7% overall shooting and 44.1% from deep
                - Jonassen (54.5%), Goulding (50.7%), Jillings (47.6%), and Holden (46.7%), shooting well
 
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
 
Kiwis Coming Through
Fordham's New Zealand 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 new career-best 17 points against #10/9 Texas in the Gulf Coast Showcase final. Heremaia set a new career-high with 16 rebounds agaisnt Saint Louis, the most since G'mrice Davis hauled in 18 against Saint Joseph's last March 2nd.
 
Goulding and Heremaia are second and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively, with 10.8 and 8.2 points per game, second and first in assists, with 49 and 46, respectively, and  first and third in rebounding, with 7.5 and 5.2, respectively, while Jillings chips in 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 26 assists off the bench. The Kiwis have combined to average 23.4 points per game, or 38.0% of the team's scoring, 15.8 rebounds (44.5% of the team's rebounding), and 121 assists, or 53.8% of the team's total of 225. Against Manhattan on December 1st was the first of two times all three have started together. 
 
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 (218-of-604 – 36.1%). Six different Rams already have at least 23 offensive boards. Mary Goulding leads the way with 51-of-120 offensive boards, Megan Jonassen  and Bre Cavanaugh each have 30, Kaitlyn Downey has 27, Zara Jillings has 24, and Kendell Heremaia has 23. Fordham has had between 13 and 19 offensive rebounds in 11 contests this year, including the first six of the year. The Rams matched their season-high with 19 against Maine.
 
Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Through 17 games to open the 2018-19 season, the Rams have had 10 double-doubles by four different players. Redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, who had zero entering this season, leads the way with five and senior Mary Goulding has three near-identical ones - grabbing 12 rebounds each time. 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.
 
Holden Ascending the All-Time Ranks
Having played the third-most minutes in Fordham history, it's no surprise to see Lauren Holden's name high up in the record book. The Cape May, N.J. native's recent hot shooting from deep has pushed her into the all-time top-five for three-pointers made, past Maureen Garvey ('01) and current Director of Ops Abigail Corning ('14), with 185 career long-range makes. Next is Suzanne Maguire, who has 200. Her 84.3% 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 987, as well as break the record for career minutes played and enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 115 and 100, respectively. She is currently at 3,831 minutes played, 323 and 325 behind Corning and Samantha Clark.
 
G'mrice Thriving in Greece
Former Fordham standout forward G'mrice Davis, the program's second 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 nine contests, is leading the league in rebounding (14.4 per game) and is second in scoring (18.0), and is chipping in 1.8 steals, as well, as Kalyvion is fourth in the table with a 5-4 record. The top four teams in the league advance to the playoffs. Eurobasket.com named G'mrice the league's Player of the Week after Round 7. On Sunday she put up 24 points and 19 rebounds against Eleutheria.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 51 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 38.4 minutes per game so far in her career. She is averaging 17.4 points per game with 290 field goals, 102 three-pointers, and 205 free throws, with an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, a 100-79 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 62 steals. She is on pace to join the 1,000-point club next month, currently at 887 career points. Cavanaugh has only been held to single-digit scoring five times in her career and has 20 games of 20 or more points. She became the fourth Fordham rookie last year to record multiple 30-point games and just the sixth player, in any class, to accomplish the feat, as well, with her 37-point game at Saint Louis (1/31/18) serving as the fourth-most by a Fordham player ever and the Atlantic 10's season-high all of last year.
 
Heremaia Raising the Bar
Sophomore Kendell Heremaia has been terrific for the Rams this year, starting all 17 contests, after making seven starts in 33 appearances last year, leading the team with 49 assists, and averaging 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds 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, and set a new career-high with 16 rebounds on Sunday at Saint Louis. Heremaia has hit at least one three-pointer in all but three games and has shot 50% or better in six contests. Prior to a recent cold-shooting stretch her last eight games, the sophomore was shooting 47.7% from the field and 43.2% from behind the arc. She has played 25 or more minutes in 13 contests.
 
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), and is on pace to break the all-time school record, currently held by current Director of Player Development Samantha Clark, who played 4,156 minutes in her career (current Director of Ops Abigail Corning in next with 4,154). A starter midway through her freshman year, Holden became the 15th Ram to surpass 3,000 career minutes, now up to 3,831 for her career, which ranks third all-time, recently passing Annie Zopf ('09) against Charlotte, Denise Hammersley ('95) against Ball State, Kristina Bell ('11) against Columbia, Suzanne Maguire ('97) against Middle Tennessee State, both Monica Mack ('05) and Becky Peters ('12) at George Washington, and now former teammate Hannah Missry ('17) on Sunday.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 93-28 (76.9%) record at home across 121 contests. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Rams are 36-7 in the Bronx, including a 13-3 mark in conference play and two Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 15-3 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 63-63 (50.0%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 39-4 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 8-1 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.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 60-5 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 15 such wins. Fordham is 25-1 in its last 26 contests with rivals scoring under 50 points, including this year's three instances against Columbia, Iona, Middle Tennesseee State, and George Washington.
 
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 13 points away from 900
- Bre Cavanaugh is 17 rebounds away from 300
- Bre Cavanaugh is 10 field goals away from 300
- Bre Cavanaugh is 41 minutes away from 2,000
- Mary Goulding is one start away from 50
- Mary Goulding is four field goals away from 200
- Mary Goulding is 32 rebounds away from 400
- Kendell Heremaia is 21 assists away from 100
- Kendell Heremaia is eight three-pointers away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is 13 field goals away from 100
- Lauren Holden is 15 points away from 1,000
- Lauren Holden is 15 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is six appearances away from 120
- Lauren Holden is one start away from 100
- Lauren Holden is 15 assists away from 250
- Lauren Holden is 10 free throws away from 150
- Lauren Holden is nine minutes away from 3,800
- Zara Jillings is 22 assists away from 100
- Zara Jillings is 20 minutes away from 1,000
 
Up Next
Fordham heads back out on the road to reigning conference regular season champions, Dayton, for a Sunday afternoon meeting. For the third consecutive weekend, CBS Sports Network will carry the coverage.