Women's Basketball Goes Down to the Wire with #16 Notre Dame in Front of Sellout Crowd

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Bronx, N.Y. – Remember, remember the Fifth of November – at least for the Fordham women's basketball team and the sell-out Rose Hill Gymnasium crowd of 3,200, they'll always have memories from the electric atmosphere surrounding the Rams' battle down to the final buzzer with #16 Notre Dame on Tuesday night. Ultimately, last year's NCAA runners-up prevailed, 60-55, in the third-ever meeting between the two schools. Fordham begins its 2019-20 campaign and title defense with an 0-1 record.
 
"It's in the loss column but there were a lot of great takeaways from this game", Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said after the 999^th game of her career, "We had our backs against the wall in the second quarter but we fought to the finish. Lots of great things to build on!"
 
The Rose Hill Gym was rocking all game long – from the moment the Rams scored the contest's first basket, an Anna DeWolfe floater in the paint, to the final whistle – the sell-out crowd was rapturous. Fordham led by two on several occasions in the opening period before a shooting slump gave the Irish a big lead in the second, by as much as 15, 29-14, leading to a 12-point advantage at the half, 36-24. The hosts never relented and chipped away at the deficit, getting within six, 39-33, before Notre Dame pulled back ahead 12 to end the third. In less than 90 seconds in the fourth, the lead was down to four, 47-43, lowest since late in the first quarter, and, after a couple baskets and free throws from the visitors, the Rams made things interesting late with timely shots and defensive stops, pulling within two, 57-55, with 11 seconds left, before free throws and Notre Dame offensive rebounds bled the clock away.
 
Junior captains Bre Cavanaugh and Kendell Heremaia led the offensive with 14 points apiece, the latter hitting 5-of-10 shots, including 4-of-7 from downtown, while grabbing nine rebounds, but also committing six turnovers. Cavanaugh shot 6-of-22 from the field and added eight boards, two assists, and a steal while playing all 40 minutes. Sophomore captain Kaitlyn Downey fouled out but not before stuffing the stat sheet with a team-high 11 rebounds (six offensive), seven points, five steals, and two blocks across 33 minutes. Freshman Anna DeWolfe nearly triple-doubled in her collegiate debut with 10 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, plus one steal, across 37 minutes, while classmate Sarah Karpell chipped in four points, four boards, three dimes, and a pair of steals over 25 minutes off the bench. Redshirt sophomore Vilisi Tavui struggled with foul trouble on the night, getting the start but held to two points and a steal in 13 minutes. Megan Jonassen helped off the bench with four points and three offensive boards over 17 minutes, as well.
 
The Rams shot just 31.9% overall from the field but held the Fighting Irish to a 36.5% clip. The fourth quarter was made all the more exciting as the hosts outscored the visitors, 20-13, and outshot them 50% to 30%, including 4-of-10 from distance, while the Irish were held without one on three attempts. Notre Dame shot just 7-of-15 from the line in the final period, as well, to keep things close, and shot 20-of-33 overall from the stripe. Fordham attempted 38 three-pointers on the evening, tied for second-most all-time in program history and most ever at home, but hit just eight (21.1%). The team's 72 attempts overall were tied for the eighth-most all-time, as well. The Rams forced Notre Dame into 21 turnovers but committed 16 of their own. Both teams had 10 steals. Fordham's 27 fouls are tied for sixth all-time in its history, as well.
 
DeWolfe's floater kicked off the season on the team's first offensive possession. Cavanaugh canned a jumper on the next trip down the floor after a Sam Brunelle layup. Fordham evened the game up at seven through a Karpell free throw and retook the lead three more times over the next three minutes through a DeWolfe jumper off a Downey steal, a Karpell three assisted by DeWolfe, and a Jonassen layup in the paint off a brilliant feed from DeWolfe. Brunelle's free throws with 35 seconds to go proved to be the game-winning points.

Fordham missed its first 13 attempts to begin the second quarter as the Fighting Irish scored 13 unanswered points over the first six-plus minutes. Downey's three-pointer, assisted by DeWolfe, at the 3:35 mark was the team's first bucket of the period. Fordham was able to keep up with the visitors over the remaining time with each team scoring seven points and Jonassen capping the half with a layup down low from Cavanaugh.
 
The Rams came out of the break with a 9-3 run, cutting the deficit down to six, 39-33, by the 4:47 mark. Notre Dame regrouped, however, and closed the frame with a 6-2 run to lead, 47-35, heading to the final frame. Fordham was not deterred and quickly got the crowd on its feet through a Heremaia triple then a quick Downey steal and fastbreak layup by DeWolfe. Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw was then forced to call a timeout after Cavanaugh swished a three of her own to cut the lead to four, 47-43, with eight and a half minutes to play. The Fighting Irish build its lead back up to double digits, 53-43, over the next two-plus minutes but a personal 6-0 run by Heremaia while the defense kept Notre Dame off the board over the next two and a half minutes brought it back down to four, 53-49, with 2:27 to play. DeWolfe and Heremaia each hit a jumper around one Destinee Walker free throw and, after Walker went 1-of-2 from the line again, Downey's offensive rebound and putback set the crowd off once more and had the Rams within two, 57-55, with 11 seconds to play. Three trips to the line followed for the visitors, each time coming away with just one point, but the Rams never got a final shot off as Anaya Peoples grabbed a clutch offensive rebound and Katlyn Gilbert forced Heremaia into a critical turnover.
 
The Rams will look to rebound from Tuesday's loss at Columbia on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.