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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (0-1) heads to the road for its first away game of the 2019-20 campaign although it won't be traveling far – the Rams will play at Columbia (0-2) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Links to follow along are above.
 
Last Time Out
The Fordham Rams were within two points of last year's national runner-up, #16/14 Notre Dame, 57-55, with 11 seconds left but an offensive rebound and a turnover kept the hosts from pulling off the upset. The Rams certainly did not disappoint a record sellout crowd at the Rose Hill Gym on Tuesday night, with a program-record 3,200 announced fans in attendance, and plenty more in the corners, as well, without seats. Fordham beat the Fighting Irish, 31-24, in the second half but were in a 12-point hole heading to halftime after a lackluster second quarter. Bre Cavanaugh and Kendell Heremaia led the way offensive with 14 points, the latter matching her career-high with four three-pointers, all in the second half, while freshman Anna DeWolfe stepped right into the starting lineup and nearly posted the program's third-ever triple double, racking up 10 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, plus a steal, over 37 minutes. Kaitlyn Downey grabbed 11 rebounds, six offensive, to go with her seven points, career-high five steals, and two blocks in a stat-stuffing night. Freshman Sarah Karpell made her debut, as well, and impressed with four points, three assists, and two steals over 25 minutes.
 
Series History vs. Columbia
Despite the proximity between the two schools, they have met just 11 times overall and never before 1987. Fordham holds a 11-1 record over the Lions, including a 5-1 record in Manhattan. Columbia's lone win came in 1990, while the Rams have enjoyed eight straight wins over their rivals, including last year's 68-49 win in the Bronx. It was the first meeting between the two schools in 18 years.
 
1,000 Career Games
Head coach Stephanie Gaitley, the program's winningest coach, has coached in 999 contests entering Sunday. Notre Dame was number 999 and Sunday's game at Columbia will be her 1,000^th.
 
Near Trip-Dub
Freshman Anna DeWolfe was incredibly impressive in her first collegiate game, showing no fear in the close loss to perennial powerhouse Notre Dame. The Cumberland, Maine native played 37 minutes, second-most on the team, with a facemask on after an injury suffered during practice a few weeks ago, and nearly recorded the team's third triple-double in its history and first since Erin Rooney's in January 2014. DeWolfe racked up 10 points, nine rebounds, and a team-high nine assists, plus a steal, but struggled with her shot a bit, hitting 5-of-16 from the floor, including 0-of-6 from behind the arc. She was named Miss Maine Basketball each of the past two years and is one of the most decorated high school players in the state's history.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 69 contests in her Fordham career and has been nothing short of spectacular for the Rams during her time in maroon and white. The redshirt junior became the third-fastest Ram to reach 1,000 career points, doing so in 60 contests, and has already amassed 2,641 career minutes, finishing each of the last two seasons within the top-10 in that category. She's already moved into the top-10 for three-pointers, now ninth with 143, free throws, eighth with 260 free throws, and is fourth all-time with a 17.0 point-per-game average. Cavanaugh has been held to single digit scoring just seven times in her career and has 26 games of 20 or more points, including 37 points two seasons ago, fourth-most in school history, and what was the Atlantic 10's highest output that year.
 
Crashing the Offensive Glass
A staple recently of the Stephanie Gaitley Rams is the team's prowess on the offensive boards. Whether it was Abigail Corning, Sam Clark, and company five years ago during the team's first title run, or the two years in which G'mrice Davis averaged a double-double, or last year's squad who grabbed nearly one-third of all their rebounds on the offensive glass (32.1%), with six different players finishing with at least 35 offensive rebounds on the year. Against Notre Dame, despite facing some taller players, the Rams grabbed 39.0% of their 41 rebounds (16) on the offensive end. Cavanaugh had five of her eight, Downey had six of her 11, and Megan Jonassen's three boards all were offensive.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 98-31 (76.0%) record at home across 129 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 41-10 in the Bronx, including a 19-5 mark in conference play and two Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 12-3 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 71-65 (52.2%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 46-4 over its last three seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 15-1 record last season. The loss at Pittsburgh last December was the first while scoring over 60 since a double-overtime loss at Saint Louis the previous January. The Rams are currently riding a 10-game streak of wins when scoring 60 points or more.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 69-6 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. The team's 47-44 loss to VCU on January 16th snapped a streak of 16 straight wins. A new streak began soon after with a 56-38 win at Rhode Island, which has reached eight games entering this season.
 
What's New?
The Rams lost two valuable starters in Mary Goulding and Lauren Holden but return 12 total, plus a talented trio of freshmen in Anna DeWolfe, Sarah Karpell, and Eden Johnson, and the return of Chloe Chaffin who suffered a season-ending injury after just two contests last year and redshirted. Leading the way for the Rams will be this year's captains – Bre Cavanaugh, Kaitlyn Downey, and Kendell Heremaia.
 
Rams in the Pros
G'mrice Davis, who graduated in 2017, currently plays professionally with Bnot Hertzeliya in Israel after spending time in Greece with GAS Kalyvion and Australia with the Rockland Cyclones, which featured her former teammate and 2019 graduate Mary Goulding. Mary finished her season strong and moved on to Sweden, where she now plays for IK Eos. Lauren Holden, who graduated in 2019, immediately moved into coaching, joining up with former associate head coach Angelika Szumilo at Fairleigh Dickinson as one of her assistants.
 
Up Next
The Rams travel to Penn State this Wednesday, November 13, at 7 p.m.  The game can be seen on Big Ten Network Plus.