Women's Basketball Drops Houston to Win Third Straight Holiday Classic Title

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Bronx, N.Y. – Exactly like Sunday's win over Samford, the visiting Houston Cougars scored the first basket of Monday's 13^th Fordham Holiday Classic championship game. The Fordham women's basketball team responded immediately and never trailed again, coasting to a nine-point, 63-54, win over Houston for its third consecutive Holiday Classic crown and fifth overall. With the win, their seventh straight, the Rams wrap up nonconference action with an 8-5 record, while the Cougars fall to 7-7.
 
"Great team effort resulted in a great team win and a championship." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "I'm excited with the way we are playing as we head into conference play!"
 
The Rams led by as much as 20 early in the third quarter and withstood a late Cougar charge to secure their eighth win in the last nine contests. Junior Kendell Heremaia, fresh off being named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week earlier in the day, was named Tournament MVP. Heremaia again stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high six assists, plus a block and a steal, over 31 minutes on Monday. Joining her on the All-Tournament team were Bre Cavanaugh and Anna DeWolfe, who scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, with five rebounds apiece.
 
Julia Blackshell-Fair kicked the championship off with an unassisted midrange jumper. After the two schools traded misses, DeWolfe stepped up with the eventual game-winning basket, a three from Cavanaugh. The latter blocked Dorian Branch's long two-point attempt on the other end and Heremaia, who snagged the rebound, drilled a three on the other end. Bria Patterson cut the deficit to within one with a long make of her own but Kaitlyn Downey responded right away with one of her own. By the media timeout a minute later, Fordham led, 12-7, with four different players hitting a three. A DeWolfe three and a late Cavanaugh layup gave the Rams a six-point cushion, 17-11, after 10 minutes.
 
Fordham kept its foot on the gas, beginning the second quarter on a 7-0 run to jump out to a 23-11 lead after two-and-a-half minutes and would keep the lead in double digits for the remainder of the half. At the intermission, the Rams were hitting 38.2% attempts, 7-of-21 from deep, while holding Houston to 32.0% shooting. Fordham's defense forced the Cougars into 12 first-half turnovers while committing just three on the offensive side.
 
The third period began in an inauspicious way, with Houston head coach Ronald Hughey assessed a technical foul, resulting in a pair of free throws by Cavanaugh and gifting the hosts the ball. DeWolfe's long two put the Rams up 20, a plateau they would reach once more a minute later when Sarah Karpell blew by her defender for an easy lay-in. The Cougars began to whittle down the deficit, though, and got within 10, 46-36, with a minute remaining, although DeWolfe came through with another big shot, hitting a baseline jumper. Fordham shot just 5-of-20 in the frame, while the visitors hit 6-of-14, with all 12 points on field goals coming in the paint. Cavanaugh came through with a big steal and basket followed by a pair of Heremaia freebies to push the lead back to 16. The lead wouldn't drop below 13 again until the final minutes and into single digits only on a last-second three by Dymond Gladney.
 
The Rams shot 34.3% from the field in the contest, hitting 10-of-36 three-pointers (27.8%), tied for the fifth-most attempts all-time and a fourth straight game with double-digit makes from distance. It was the first time in five games the offense hasn't converted 40% or more of its attempts and it was also the first time since Villanova on November 17 that an opponent has hit 40% or better, as the Cougars converted on 40.7% of their shot attempts. Fordham forced Houston into 22 turnovers, however, while committing a season-low nine, but was outrebounded, 40-35, although the hosts held an 11-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with a game-high 19 points and three steals, adding five rebounds, four assists, and a block over 39 minutes. DeWolfe chipped in 17 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep, with five boards, a steal, and an assist. Downey paced the Rams with 11 rebounds, tying her career-high, to go with six points, two assists, two steals, and a block. Megan Jonassen came off the bench for four points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal over 15 minutes, while Zara Jillings contributed two rebounds, a block, and a steal in 13 minutes.
 
Heremaia's 21 points against Samford proved to be a tournament-high as were her eight assists. She averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks over 30.5 minutes on back-to-back days.
 
Fordham begins its conference slate on Saturday against the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. inside the Rose Hill Gym on ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM.