Dayton, Ohio – Senior co-captain
Lauren Holden scored her 1,000
th career point but the Fordham women's basketball team fell, 72-50, on Sunday afternoon at Dayton. With the loss, the Rams fall to 12-7, overall and 3-2 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Flyers improve to 9-7 and 4-1, respectively.
"You always have at least one of these types of games that you have no answers for," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "I'm glad it happened early in the conference season so we can learn from it and move on."
Holden's stepback three, the 187
th of her career, gave Fordham five points in the early going and the senior 1,001 for her career, the program's 21
st student-athlete to reach the milestone. Holden finished the game with seven points and two assists.
After shooting 43.5% from the field in the first half, Fordham converted just 28.6% over the final 20 minutes, while the Flyers shot 54.4% overall and 47.4% from behind the arc. The Rams finished at 34.5% and 23.5%, respectively.
A
Megan Jonassen jumper and a Holden floater tied the game up, 14-14, towards the end of the opening frame before Brittany Ward's layup with 14 seconds left put the hosts up a pair heading to the second quarter. The two schools were once again deadlocked, 20-20, for a final time following buckets from
Mary Goulding and
Bre Cavanaugh.
Jayla Scaife's mid-range jumper on the next possession proved to be the game winner. The Flyers took a nine-point lead, 36-27, into the break after shooting 58.6% from the field, including a 15-of-22 clip from inside the perimeter. Cavanaugh's jumper got the deficit to eight midway through the third quarter but the Flyers closed the period on a 7-0 run, pushing the lead up to double figures for the remainder of the contest.
Cavanaugh led the way with 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting, four rebounds, and two assists.
Kendell Heremaia finished with nine points and four boards, while the other three starters (Downey, Goulding, and Holden) tallied seven points apiece. Goulding chipped in a team-high six rebounds and two steals, while Downey matched her season-high of two blocks. Off the bench, Jonassen notched four points and boards, plus a block, with
Katie McLoughlin (three points) and
Zara Jillings (two points) contributing, as well.
The Rams lost the battle of the boards for the first time in 11 games, 39-27, and recorded a season-low eight assists. Fordham coughed the ball up just 11 times, however, and hit eight free throws, the squad's most in the last six games.
Fordham remains on the road this week for a Thursday night match-up at Rhode Island. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
