Women's Basketball Coasts to 76-64 Senior Day Win over Massachusetts

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Bronx, N.Y. – It was a Senior Day to remember for the Fordham women's basketball team, dominating from start to finish, 76-64, against Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon inside the Rose Hill Gym. With the win, the team's seventh straight, the Rams improve to 20-8 overall and 11-3 in Atlantic 10 action, while the Minutewomen fall to 13-15 and 5-9, respectively.
 
"Super happy for the seniors," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "20 wins for a third straight year speaks volumes of their impact on the program!"
 
The Rams secured their third consecutive 20-win campaign with the 12-point victory, never trailing and leading by as much as 20. Just a couple hours after graduate student Alexa Giuliano and seniors Mary Goulding and Lauren Holden were honored in a pregame ceremony in front of many friends and family, the Rams walked off winners in the penultimate home contest of the regular season, remaining in second place in the league standings.
 
Fordham shot a blistering 54.5% (6-of-11) from behind the arc in the first quarter alone to take a sizeable 22-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Five of the game's first buckets were three-pointers, with the hosts hitting the first four in a row to take a 12-0 lead, with makes from Bre Cavanaugh, Kendell Heremaia, and two by Kaitlyn Downey. It took until the two-minute mark for a wide-open Zara Jillings layup for Fordham's first two-point basket of the contest. By the end of the period, Cavanaugh and Downey had combined for 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-8 from downtown.
 
The Rams maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second period as it was the seniors turn to dominate. Goulding and Holden combined to score 16 points in the frame on 5-of-6 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep, and 4-of-4 by Holden from the charity stripe. Fordham led, 46-28, at the half on 53.3% overall shooting and 50.0% from deep (9-of-18). The Rams had 14 points off of seven UMass turnovers and committed just five themselves, assisting on 14 of their 16 baskets in the half.
 
Fordham took its largest lead of the afternoon, 48-28, on a Holden layup and again two possessions later on a Goulding jumper, 50-30. From that point, the Minutewomen rallied with a 14-7 run to get within 13, 57-44, at the end of the third. The visitors would never get the deficit to single digits, however, as the Rams saw out the comfortable victory by answering UMass' 60% shooting clip in the period by hitting half of their 12 shots and all five free-throw attempts.
 
Fordham assisted on a season-high 21 field goals and drained a season-best 12 three-pointers at a 44.4% clip. The Rams shot 50.0% overall from the field and hit 10-of-12 free throws, as well. The Rams won the battle of the boards, 31-20, including a 7-1 margin on the offensive glass, and committed just 10 turnovers.
 
Cavanaugh matched her season-high of 27 points for a third time, hitting 10-of-19 attempts, 5-of-10 from behind the arc, to go with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal over 39 minutes. Downey and Goulding each finished with 15 points, the former on an efficient 5-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep, and the latter hitting 7-of-13 shots to go with eight boards (four offensive), and game-highs of six assists and three steals. Holden chipped in nine points and five assists, while Heremaia added six points, five boards, and five dimes.
 
The Rams conclude the home portion of their regular season schedule with a rematch against Dayton on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the men's team playing the nightcap.