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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (4-5) returns to the Rose Hill Gym to begin a five-game home swing, first against Georgetown (2-6) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage.
 
Last Time Out
The 51st Battle of the Bronx went down to the wire at Draddy Gymnasium, but the Rams pulled out the victory for a ninth consecutive year. Fordham dominated the opening 10 minutes, cruising to a 15-4 advantage heading to the second quarter, while limiting the Jaspers to 2-of-16 shooting, including missing their first 12 field goal attempts over seven minutes. The Rams offense struggled to convert chances in the middle of the contest, getting outscored, 32-23, in the middle periods, including a brief Manhattan lead, 36-35, late in the third. A free throw by Bre Cavanaugh tied the game back up and the Rams never trailed again, holding the Jaspers without a field goal over the first three minutes of the period. Kendell Heremaia and Megan Jonassen each came up with crucial offensive rebounds on the next two offensive possessions to allow Fordham to maintain control of the game.
 
Cavanaugh earned MVP honors for a second straight year with a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double, the 10th of her career and second of her junior campaign, while Kaitlyn Downey recorded her second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Heremaia finished with 10 rebounds to go with four points, and five of Jonassen's seven rebounds off the bench came on the offensive end. Fordham shot just 29.0% from the floor but held Manhattan to 27.4% shooting. The Rams notched a season-high 54 rebounds.
 
Series History vs. Georgetown
The Hoyas hold an all-time 6-4 lead over the Rams since 1971, when they were victorious, 31-19, in Washington, D.C. This will be the first meeting in the Bronx since 2007. Fordham came from behind in the opening round of the 2017 WNIT to defeat Georgetown on the road, 60-49, but fell, 58-38, last year. The Rams were missed Mary  Goulding in that game and Cavanaugh was the leading scorer with just 10 points. It was a jolt that the team needed, though, as they lost just four games the rest of the way prior to making the NCAA Tournament.
 
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.
 
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
Already through nine games, 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. Four different Rams have led the team in rebounding, five 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 four times apiece.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 77 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 1,297 career points, up to ninth all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 2,953 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,110 (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 tied for eighth, with 155, is fifth with 294 free throws, and is fourth all-time with a 16.8 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 29 games of 20 or more points.
 
Heremaia's Career Night
Despite the result, junior tri-captain Kendell Heremaia enjoyed a career night at Penn State, setting personal-bests in scoring (19 points), field goals made and attempted (7-of-17), and three-pointers made and attempted (5-of-11). She also chipped in six boards and three assists. She had another terrific performance against Lehigh in the Bahamas with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 3-of-6 from deep, with 13 rebounds, four assists, and a block over just 27 minutes. Heremaia is fourth on the team in scoring with 11.0 points per game and leads the squad in rebounding, with 8.2 per g ame. She is shooting 40.7% overall from the field and 39.5% from behind the arc with 17 made threes, second-most in the squad. She continues to stuff the stat sheet, as well, with 24 asists, five steals, and four blocks.
 
Downey's Fast Start
The sophomore tri-captain has began her sophomore campaign impressively, averaging 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks over 29.2 minutes game, while shooting 46.6% from the field and 40.0% from deep with a team-high 20 threes. Downey was immense defensively against #16 Notre Dame, racking up a team-high 11 rebounds, five steals, and two blocks to go with seven points, the last two of which got the Rams within two, 57-55, with 11 seconds left in regulation. Downey set a new career-high with 19 points at Columbia then bested that with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 6-of-8 from behind the arc, at Charlotte.
 
Anna The Wolfe
Freshman Anna DeWolfe has burst onto the scene in a big way, nearly triple-doubling against #16 Notre Dame in the season opener (10 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists), and recording at least nine points in all but one contest to begin her collegiate career, including a season-high 25 points at Charlotte. The Cumberland, Maine native is second on the team with 12.8 points per game on 39.8% shooting overall, 33.3% from deep, with 4.4 rebounds, a team-high 29 assists (3.2 per game), and nine steals over 34.9 minutes per contest. She has one A-10 Rookie of the Week under her belt already.
 
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 328 rebounds coming on the offensive end (99). Sophomore Megan Jonassen this year (23-of-38) and for her career (76-of-144) 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 16.
 
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 Thursday's win.
 
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 host Southern next Saturday, December 14, at 2 p.m.