Heremaia Nearly Triple-Doubles in 68-37 Rout of Samford

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Bronx, N.Y. – Behind junior Kendell Heremaia's near triple-double and a stifling defense, the Fordham women's basketball team cruised to a 68-37 win over Samford in the opening game of the 13^th Fordham Holiday Classic on Sunday afternoon. With the win, their fifth straight and seventh in their last eight contests, the Rams improve to 7-5 overall on the year with one game left in nonconference play, while the Bulldogs fall to 4-10.
 
"We really came out focused on defense and that set the tone early." Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "Great effort after a long break.  Looking forward to a great championship game!"

Samford scored the game's first basket on the opening possession via a Natalie Armstrong jumper. From that point on, it was all Fordham as the hosts stymied the Bulldogs into misses on their next 11 attempts while scoring 15 points for the remainder of the opening period. Fordham shot 6-of-14 in the frame with Heremaia picking up six points, five rebounds, and two dimes. The Bulldogs wouldn't be able to get the deficit back to single digits the rest of the way, falling behind 17, 29-12, at the half, a season-low for an opponent. Fordham held Samford to just 5-of-24 shooting from the floor in the half, including misses on all six long-range attempts.
 
Katie Allen began the second half with a three but was answered immediately with one from Anna DeWolfe. Sarah Myers saw a jumper go down to make it a 15-point game, 40-17, but the Rams scored 11 unanswered points to lead by 26, 43-17, with less than four minutes in the frame. The lead would balloon to 28, including at period's end followed a late Bre Cavanaugh putback layup, 50-22. A Heremaia fastbreak layup gifted Fordham its largest lead of the day and year, 64-31, with 5:51 to play and the hosts emptied their bench with four-plus minutes remaining.
 
In addition to Heremaia's big game, Cavanaugh chipped in 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal over 33 minutes, while DeWolfe and Kaitlyn Downey each added nine points. The former had five rebounds, while the latter had four boards, four assists, and a steal, as well. Megan Jonassen and Katie McLoughlin each tallied five points off the bench, and the scoring was rounded out by three from Zara Jillings and two from Catherine Polisano.
 
The Rams shot 43.9% from the floor on the day, tied for third-highest on the season, and hit 11-of-29 three-point attempts, the third straight game with double-digit makes from distance and fifth this year. The offense handed out 17 assists for a second consecutive contest, tied for the second-most this season, to just 12 turnovers. Fordham won the battle of the boards handily, 42-27, including a 14-9 margin on the offensive glass.
 
Samford's 37 points allowed are tied for the 11^th-fewest by a Fordham opponent since 1980.
 
Fordham will play Houston as it looks for a third consecutive Holiday Classic crown, fifth in its history, tomorrow at 3 p.m. Hofstra and Samford will battle for third-place honors at 1 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage of the championship.