Women's Basketball Hosts Davidson Sunday

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (13-7, 4-2 A-10) got back in the win column with an 18-point defense-led effort on the road at Rhode Island on Thursday night. The Rams now set their sights on Davidson (10-8, 4-1 A-10) when the Wildcats visit the Rose Hill Gym Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ESPN+ will carry the coverage.
 
Last Time Out
Defense and Bre Cavanaugh's 21 points led the way for Fordham's bounceback 56-38 win at Rhode Island on Thursday night. The host Rams' 38 matched a season-low for a Fordham opponent (George Washington) and they were held to just 30.6% shooting and zero three-pointers. The defense tallied nine steals, second-most on the year, led by new personal-bests from Kendell Heremaia (four) and Megan Jonassen (three). Fordham never trailed in the game; Mary Goulding's layup within the first minute of play proved to be the eventual game winner. A testy affair that saw two technical fouls assessed to Rhode Island, the visitors pulled away with a late barrage, scoring 11 unanswered points amid a 13-1 run, over the final eight minutes of the game.
 
Cavanaugh's 21 points came on 6-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-11 clip from downtown and 5-of-6 from the line, adding nine rebounds, a game-high four assists, and a steal over 40 minutes. Heremaia matched her with a game-high nine boards to with 10 points in 24 minutes. Holden chipped in 10 points, three assists, and a steal, while Zara Jillings, making a return to the starting lineup, posted six points, four boards, and two dimes in 32 minutes.
 
Series History vs. Davidson
Fordham holds a 7-2 all-time advantage over the Wildcats since the latter entered the Atlantic 10 in 2015. Both of Davidson's victories have come in North Carolina, while the Rams hold a perfect 5-0 record at home, including the last meeting a year ago on January 10th, 66-58. Most recently, Fordham beat the Wildcats, 58-45, on the road last February 10th.
 
Bre Cavanaugh averaged 19.5 points in two meetings with the Wildcats last year, adding 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks. Lauren Holden chipped in 16.0 points on a combined 11-of-21 shooting, including 9-of-13 from behind the arc, with five totals rebounds and four assists. Zara Jillings notched her career-best eight assists, as well, in the first meeting last year..
 
Swiper No Swiping
Fordham is once again tops in the country in limiting turnovers, with just 10.7 per game, the only 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. Last Sunday's five turnovers at Saint Louis were the fewest since the 2012-13 squad committed just four against Holy Cross on January 6 of that year.
 
The Rams have five of the top 20 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Zara Jillings is alone in fourth (1.9), Bre Cavanaugh is tied for eighth (1.6), Kaitlyn Downey is tied for 12th (1.4), and Mary Goulding and Lauren Holden are tied for 19th (1.3). All six Rams who are averaging 20 or more minutes have a positive assist/turnover ratio and the team as a whole has a 256-213 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 last 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. Click here to read more.
 
Seven-Game Winning Streak
Prior to last Wednesday's loss, the Rams had rattled off seven straight wins since opening nonconference action with a 5-5 record. During the run, Fordham had wins at Iona, over Maine and Middle Tennessee State at the 12th Annual Holiday Classic, at George Washington, Richmond at home, and at Saint Louis to begin conference play. Here were some key stats from the team's winning streak:
                - Average margin of victory: 60.6 to 4870 (+11.9)
                - Outshot opponents 40.9% to 38.9% overall and 33.3% to 22.3% from behind the arc
                - Outrebounded opponents 36.3 to 28.0 (+8.3), including 90-49 on the offensive glass
                - Bre Cavanaugh averaged 16.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals over 39.4 minutes
                - Mary Goulding averaged 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game
                - Lauren Holden averaged 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%), shot 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
 
#ShareTheRock
The Rams have a 256/213 assist/turnover ratio through 20 games thus far this season and no one player stands above the rest in terms of spreading the wealth on offense. Four different players have between 47 and 51 dimes on the year: Kendell Heremaia leads the squad with 51, followed closely by Mary Goulding (50), Lauren Holden (49), and Bre Cavanaugh (47). Zara Jillings has 30, as well, off the bench. All six players averaging over 19 minutes have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
 
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 10.4 and 8.2 points per game, are second and first in assists, with 51 and 50, respectively, and  first and third in rebounding, with 7.3 and 5.5, respectively, while Jillings chips in 4.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 30 assists off the bench. The Kiwis have combined to average 22.7 points per game, or 38.0% of the team's scoring, 15.8 rebounds (44.9% of the team's rebounding), and 131 assists, or 51.2% of the team's total of 256. Against Manhattan on December 1st was the first of three 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 over that mark (243-of-704 – 34.5%). Six different Rams have at least 26 offensive boards: Mary Goulding leads the way with 56-of-138 offensive boards, Bre Cavanaugh has 34, Megan Jonassen has 33, Kaitlyn Downey has 29, Kendell Heremaia has 28, and Zara Jillings has 26. 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 20 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 189 career long-range makes. Next is Suzanne Maguire, who has 200. Her 85.1% career rate from the free-throw line sits tied for fourth all-time, as well. She became the 21st member of the program's 1,000-point club, currently at 1,015, at Dayton last Sunday and is on pace to break the record for career minutes played and enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 118 and 103, respectively. She is currently at 3,950 minutes played, 204 and 206 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 10 contests, is leading the league in rebounding (15.8 per game), is second in scoring (19.5), and is chipping in 1.8 steals, as well, helping Kalyvion to a 6-4 record and fourth-place spot in the league table. The top four teams in the league advance to the playoffs. Eurobasket.com has already named G'mrice the league's Player of the Week four times, all coming in the last five weeks. This past weekend, Davis had a monster game of 27 points, 24 rebounds, five assists, and five steals against Esperides.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 54 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 38.5 minutes per game so far in her career. She is averaging 17.2 points per game with 306 field goals, 108 three-pointers, and 211 free throws, with an average of 5.6 rebounds per game, a 107-83 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 63 steals. She is on pace to join the 1,000-point club next month, currently at 931 career points. Cavanaugh has only been held to single-digit scoring five times in her career and has 21 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 20 contests, after making seven starts in 33 appearances last year, leading the team with 50 assists, and averaging 8.2 points and 5.5 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 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, the sophomore was shooting 47.7% from the field and 43.2% from behind the arc to start the year. She has played 25 or more minutes in 15 contests this year.
 
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 3,950 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 former teammate Hannah Missry ('17).
 
Bre Cavanaugh finished her freshman season with the second-most minutes played in a campaign (1,304) and this year the duo are once again at the top of the NCAA ranks. Cavanaugh's 38.6 per-game clip is second in the country with Holden right behind in third at 38.5.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 93-29 (76.2%) record at home across 122 contests. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Rams are 36-8 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 64-64 (50.0%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 40-4 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 9-1 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 62-6 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. Last Wednesday's 47-44 loss to VCU snapped a streak of 16 straight wins. This year, the Rams have wins against Columbia, Iona, Middle Tennesseee State, George Washington, Richmond, and Rhode Island in such instances.
 
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 69 points away from 1,000
- Mary Goulding is 15 three-pointers away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 14 rebounds away from 400
- Mary Goulding is 15 assists away from 150
- Mary Goulding is 53 minutes away from 2,000
- Kendell Heremaia is 19 assists away from 100
- Kendell Heremaia is four three-pointers away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is four field goals away from 100
- Lauren Holden is 35 points away from 1,050
- Lauren Holden is 11 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is two appearances away from 120
- Lauren Holden is two free throws away from 150
- Lauren Holden is 50 minutes away from 4,000
- Zara Jillings is 18 assists away from 100
 
Up Next
Fordham returns to the road to play at La Salle Thursday night, January 31st, at 7 p.m.