Women's Basketball Hosts Hofstra, Houston, Samford for 13th Holiday Classic

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (6-5) will look to extend its win streak to five and six games and secure a third consecutive Holiday Classic crown when it hosts Samford (4-9), Hofstra (3-6), and Houston (6-6) on Sunday and Monday, December 29-30.
 
The Rams will play Samford at 1 p.m. on Sunday to kick things off. The losers will play the following day at 1 p.m., while the winners will battle for the title immediately after. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage of Fordham's contests.
 
Last Time Out
Behind a combined 48 points from Bre Cavanaugh and Kendell Heremaia and a defense that held its opponent below 40% overall shooting for a seventh consecutive game, the Rams defeated Southern, 65-52, on December 14. It was Fordham's sixth win in their last seven and fourth straight. Southern rallied between the first and second quarters to take a brief 24-22 lead but Fordham closed the half on an 8-2 run and coasted to a 13-point win, leading by as much as 16 in the second half. Cavanaugh and Heremaia each scored 24 points on a combined 14-of-24 shooting, with both juniors hitting four three-pointers. The duo scored Fordham's first 13 points and 25 of 30 over the opening 20 minutes. For Heremaia, it was a new career-high in scoring and her first 20-point effort. She did so on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 from distance, and 4-of-4 from the line, adding eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block over 35 minutes. Cavanaugh hit 6-of-12 overall and a season-high 8-of-10 from the stripe. Kaitlyn Downey swatted a career-high four shots to go with nine points, four rebounds, four dimes, and a steal, while Sarah Karpell dished out a game-high five assists.
 
Series Histories
Samford/Houston - First-ever meeting.
 
Hofstra - Fordham holds an all-time 14-9 series lead over the Pride since 1972. The two schools haven't met since 2014 when the Rams won, 60-46, in the Bronx. The year prior, Hofstra won at home, 77-64. Fordham has won its last five contests against Hofstra in the Bronx since 1985.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 102-31 (76.7%) record at home across 133 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 44-11 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.
 
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 seven games, but Heremaia (four), 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.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 79 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 1,344 career points, up to eighth all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,030 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,190 (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 seventh with 162, is fifth with 308 free throws, and is fourth all-time with a 17.0 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 31 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 29.6% of their 388 rebounds coming on the offensive end (115). Sophomore Megan Jonassen this year (26-of-43) and for her career (79-of-149) has more offensive rebounds than defensive. Half of Sarah Karpell's 24 boards are on that end as are all but one of Katie McLoughin's eight 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.
 
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.
 
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
Atlantic 10 play begins in earnest next Saturday, January 4, when Fordham hosts St. Bonaventure. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.