Women's Basketball Hosts Richmond Wednesday Morning

Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Twitter Updates at @FordhamWBB
Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (10-5, 1-0) returns home for its first Atlantic 10 home contest on Wednesday morning, its second straight 11 a.m. start time. The Rams welcome Richmond (3-11, 0-1) to the Bronx for the team's annual Field Trip Day event.
 
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.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams made it five straight wins with a resounding 50-38 victory at reigning A-10 champions George Washington on Saturday. It was the fourth time during this stretch that the Fordham defense has held an opponent under 50 points and second time holding an opponent to 40 points or fewer. The offense was on fire to start the contest, hitting 7-of-11 three-point attempts in the first quarter alone to take a 23-12 lead into the second frame. The Rams had a 9-2 lead within 90 seconds on back-to-back-to-back threes by Mary Goulding and Lauren Holden, the latter finishing the period with a 4-of-4 clip from behind the arc. The scoring slowed to a crawl in the second quarter, with the visitors holding a 7-6 advantage and 30-18 lead at the half. Fordham solidified the win with a 16-4 third-quarter burst to lead by 24, 46-22, the team's largest margin of the season and lowest opponent number through three quarters. The Colonials rallied to get within 12 at the end with a 16-4 fourth.
 
Lauren Holden matched her season-high with 14 points to lead all players and the Rams had two double-doubles: Bre Cavanaugh tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds, plus a pair of steals, while Mary Goulding had 10 points and 12 boards, plus three assists and a steal. Despite shooting 50.0% from the field in the first quarter, the Rams were outshot overall, 34.0% to 30.5%, due to shooting struggles in the other three frames, but won the battle of the boards, 44-32.
 
Series History vs. Richmond
The Spiders hold an all-time 13-7 advantage over the Rams since 1988. Richmond took that first meeting, in Atlanta, and once the conference rivalry started proper in 2002, Fordham took the first iteration, 75-50, in the Bronx before Richmond rattled off 10 straight wins through 2012. Since, Fordham holds a 6-2 record, including last year's 43-38 win on the road. The Rams have a 5-4 record in the Bronx, including four straight.
 
Holding Onto the Rock
Fordham is third in the country in limiting turnovers, with just 10.9 per game through the team's first 15 contests and behind only Oregon and Wyoming, the only three to average fewer than 11. The Rams have coughed the ball up just 164 times, seventh-fewest in the country despite playing more games than the schools ahead of them. Only 21 schools have played more games. 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 3.0 fewer turnovers than the next A-10 team, Saint Louis.
 
The Rams have five of the top 21 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Zara Jillings (2.2) is third in the league, Kaitlyn Downey is 13th (1.6), and Bre Cavanaugh, Mary Goulding, and Kendell Heremaia are all tied for 17th (1.4). All six Rams who are averaging 20 or more minutes have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
 
Five-Game Winning Streak
The Rams have rattled off five 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, and at George Washington to begin conference play this past weekend. Here are some key stats from the team's five-game winning streak:
                - Average margin of victory: 61.6 to 48.0 (+13.6)
                - Outshooting opponents 43.0% to 38.7% overall and 32.1% to 17.7% from behind the arc
                - Outrebounding opponents 34.8 to 26.8 (+8.0), including 59-33 on the offensive glass
                - Bre Cavanaugh averaging 16.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.9 steals over 39.8 minutes
                - Lauren Holden averaging 12.0 points on 48.9% overall shooting and 42.3% from deep
                - Jonassen (62.5%), Goulding and Downey (50%), and Jillings (44.4%) 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
 
Cavanaugh Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Again
The redshirt sophomore earned MVP honors of the Fordham Holiday Classic last weekend by averaging 17.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals en route to the Rams' second straight crown at their own tournament. Cavanaugh picked up her second ever Player of the Week honor after earning four Rookie of the Week accolades last year. Earlier this season, Cavanaugh garnered the award for a first time with an excellent performance at the Gulf Coast Showcase, leading Fordham to the championship game by averaging 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 of three games. Read more about it by clicking here.
 
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 career-best 17 points against #10/9 Texas in the Gulf Coast Showcase final.
 
Goulding and Heremaia are second and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively, with 10.4 and 8.6 points per game, and second and first in assists, with 45 and 38, respectively, while Jillings chips in 4.5 points and 26 assists off the bench. The Kiwis have combined to average 23.5 points per game, or 37.9% of the team's scoring, 14.9 rebounds (42.7% of the team's rebounding), and an even 109 assists, or 55.6% of the team's total of 196. 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 (187-of-524 – 35.7%). Five different Rams already have at least 22 offensive boards and six are in double figures. Mary Goulding leads the way with 46-of-105 offensive boards, Kaitlyn Downey and Megan Jonassen each have 25, Bre Cavanaugh has 24, and Zara Jillings has 22. Kendell Heremaia has 15. Fordham has had between 13 and 19 offensive rebounds in nine contests this year, including the first six of the year. The Rams matched their season-high with 19 against Maine.
 
Holden Ascending the All-Time Ranks
Having played the fourth-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 181 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 971, as well as break the record for career minutes played and enter the top-five for games played and stated, currently at 113 and 98, respectively.
 
Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Through 15 games to open the 2018-19 season, the Rams have had nine double-doubles by four different players. Redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, who had zero entering this season, leads the way with four 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.
 
Heremaia Raising the Bar
Sophomore Kendell Heremaia has been terrific for the Rams this year, starting all 15 contests, after making seven starts in 33 appearances last year, leading the team with 46 assists, and averaging 8.6 points 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. 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 five games, the sophomore was shooting 47.7% from the field and 43.2% from behind the arc. Heremaia is also chipping in 4.3 rebounds, third-highest on the team. She has played 25 or more minutes in 11 contests.
 
Mary Goulding Named Atlantic 10 and National Jesuit Player of the Week
The New Zealand international earned her first weekly career accolades a month 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.
 
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 eight 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 4-4 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. Click here to read an interview with G'mrice about her time abroad.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 49 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 17.3 points per game with 276 field goals, 99 three-pointers, and 198 free throws, with an average of 5.4 rebounds per game, a 91-75 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 60 steals. She is on pace to join the 1,000-point club next month, currently at 849 career points. Cavanaugh has only been held to single-digit scoring five times in her career and has 18 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.
 
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 3,754 for her career, which ranks fourth 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, and both Monica Mack ('05) and Becky Peters ('12) at George Washington.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 92-28 (76.7%) record at home across 120 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 62-63 (49.6%) 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 51 points away from 900
- Bre Cavanaugh is one three-pointer away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is two free throws away from 200
- Bre Cavanaugh is nine assists away from 100
- Bre Cavanaugh is 35 rebounds away from 300
- Bre Cavanaugh is one start and game played away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 26 points away from 500
- Mary Goulding is three starts away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 16 field goals away from 200
- Mary Goulding is 47 rebounds away from 400
- Kendell Heremaia is 25 assists away from 100
- Kendell Heremaia is 10 three-pointers away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is two appearances away from 50
- Lauren Holden is 29 points away from 1,000
- Lauren Holden is 19 three-pointers away from 200
- Lauren Holden is two starts away from 100
- Lauren Holden is 17 assists away from 250
- Lauren Holden is 10 free throws away from 150
- Lauren Holden is 46 minutes away from 3,800
- Zara Jillings is 22 assists away from 100
- Zara Jillings is one appearance away from 50
- Zara Jillings is 48 minutes away from 1,000
 
Up Next
Fordham travels to Saint Louis this Sunday afternoon. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network and will tip off at 4 p.m. ET.