Women's Basketball Hosts Southern on Saturday Afternoon

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (5-5) will look to extend its win streak to four games and get a game over .500 on Saturday when it hosts Southern (2-5) at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage.
 
Last Time Out
Unlike a tense Battle of the Bronx three days prior, Fordham's 67-54 win over Georgetown on Sunday was a breeze, leading by as much as 23 in the second half. Bre Cavanaugh hit a three 90 seconds into the contest, giving Fordham a 5-4 lead, and the Rams would never trail again. The Hoyas made four substitutions down 9-4 and rallied to within two, 13-11, but Kendell Heremaia hit a timely three and Anna DeWolfe blew by her defender for an easy layup in the dying seconds of the opening 10 minutes to give the hosts a seven-point cushion, 18-11. The Rams held the Hoyas to 3-of-15 shooting in the second period but struggled to score themselves, hitting just 5-of-16. Still, Fordham led by 12, 37-25, and by 17, 50-33, after three quarters.
 
Cavanaugh finished the game with 23 points, matching her season-high, to go with 10 rebounds, her third double-double in the last four games, a game-high three steals, and two assists over 39 minutes. DeWolfe chipped in an efficient 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 4-of-8 from deep, with six boards, four dimes, and a steal. Kaitlyn Downey and Heremaia each finished with four assists, the latter scoring 10 points and hauling in nine rebounds and the former adding nine points and seven boards. Fordham outshot Georgetown, 40.4% to 33.9%, and won the battle of the boards, 36-30, with 15 assists to 13 turnovers.
 
Series History vs. Southern
This will be the second-ever meeting between the two schools. Southern visited the Bronx in 2012, with the Rams winning, 56-44. 
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 100-31 (76.3%) record at home across 131 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 42-11 in the Bronx, including a 19-5 mark in conference play and two Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 12-4 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 73-68 (51.8%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
Striking the Right Balance
Fordham is seeing plenty of production spread around the members of its rotation. Cavanaugh is unsurprisingly leading the charge in scoring in half the games, but Heremaia (thrice), DeWolfe (once), and Downey (once) have also stepped up to lead the offense. Four different Rams have led the team in rebounding, six have led the team in assists, six have had at least one game with a share of or the team-high in steals, and five have led the way in blocks at least once, as well. Five different players have scored in double figures, with Cavanaugh, DeWolfe, Downey, and Heremaia doing so at least five times apiece.
 
Cavanaugh Named Player of the Week by Three Outlets
Bre earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors on December 9 after averaging a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double over two wins last week. On Tuesday, she earned the same distinction from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association and was named National Jesuit Player of the Week by the AJCU.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 78 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 entered the all-time top-10 in scoring, amassing 1,320 career points, up to eighth all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 2,992 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,150 (95.0%), finishing each of the last two seasons within the top-10 in that category nationally. She's already moved into the top-10 for three-pointers, now eighth with 155, is fifth with 300 free throws, and is fourth all-time with a 16.9 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 30 games of 20 or more points.
 
This is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 101-31 (76.5%) record at home across 132 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 43-11 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 19-5 mark in conference play and two Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 12-4 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 73-68 (51.8%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
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, 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. Despite the loss of Mary Goulding, the Rams haven't skipped a beat, with 30.2% of their 364 rebounds coming on the offensive end (110). Sophomore Megan Jonassen this year (25-of-41) and for her career (78-of-147) has more offensive rebounds than defensive. Half of Sarah Karpell's 24 boards are on that end as are all seven of Katie McLoughin's rebounds. Six Rams already have double-digit offensive boards, led by Jonassen off the bench. Cavanaugh is next with 18.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 70-6 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 now reached nine games with last Thursday's win.
 
DeWolfe Named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week
The freshman from Cumberland, Maine was instrumental in the team's first two wins of the season, matching and then surpassing her season-highs in scoring and averaging 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals over 36.5 minutes, while shooting 48.4% from the floor and 41.2% from deep. She was named Rookie of the Week on November 25.
 
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 are off for two weeks before returning to host the 13th annual Fordham Holiday Classic on December 29-30. Fordham will kick things off against Samford at 1 p.m. on the 29th, while Houston and Hofstra will play immediately following its conclusion.