Women's Basketball at Saint Joseph's Saturday for Regular Season Finale

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (21-8, 12-3 A-10) clinched a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Championship with Wednesday's win over Dayton and will now play for the program's first-ever regular season championship on Saturday at Saint Joseph's (11-17, 7-8 A-10). A win would clinch at least a share of the regular season crown. Tip-off from Hagan Arena is set for 12 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham led for 32 minutes of Wednesday night's game against the Flyers, while senior Mary Goulding starred with a career-high 24 points and numerous big shots. The Rams defense held Dayton to its fifth-worst shooting performance of the season and third-worst mark from behind the arc, 33.3% and 16.7%, respectively, while the offense hit 10-of-25 three-point attempts (40.0%), the fifth time in the last seven games Fordham has sank double-digit triples. The Rams started off strongly, taking a 9-2 lead, and, eventually, pushing it up to 15-8. The Flyers cut the deficit in both instances, finishing the period on a 4-0 run over the final two minutes. Dayton kept up the pressure and took its first lead of the contest, pushing it up to their largest of the night, 24-20, with four minutes to go in the half. From that point on, however, the Rams dominated, ending the period on a 9-0 run. Goulding, who started the game with a three, began the second half with another. The Flyers chipped away to tie the game at 32-all and it was Goulding who broke the deadlock yet again with a triple. Later, in the fourth, when Dayton had once again knotted the game up, 42-42, it was Goulding to score the go-ahead basket, hitting her career-best fourth trey. Bre Cavanaugh and the seniors kept Dayton at bay the rest of the way with clutch baskets and 8-of-9 free-throw shooting down the stretch.
 
Goulding shot 7-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc, for her career-high 24 points, adding 12 rebounds, three assists, and a team-high two steals over 38 minutes. Kendell Heremaia also shot 4-of-6 from deep to finish with 14 points, chipping in three rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal over a career-high 38 minutes. Cavanaugh scored just 10 points but posted four rebounds and a team-high four assists.
 
Series History vs. Saint Joseph's
The Hawks hold an all-time 39-9 record since 1972, including two wins a year ago. Fordham has enjoyed much more success in recent years, winning four straight from 2014-16 and six times in the past five seasons. When Stephanie Gaitley helmed the Hawks, they enjoyed a 12-1 record over the Rams. Since she joined Fordham, she has a 6-7 record against her former program. The Hawks won, 52-50, in last year's season finale in the bronx and eliminated the Rams from the A-10 tournament on a late three-pointer, 52-49.
 
Cavanaugh Named Atlantic 10 and MBWA and Player of the Week
The redshirt sophomore earned her fourth weekly accolade from the league this week by scoring 27 points, matching her season-high for a third time, on 10-of-19 shooting, 5-of-10 from deep, with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal over 38 minutes against Massachusetts on Sunday. Cavanaugh was also named the Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Association Player of the Week, which named her Rookie of the Year last Spring. Read more about her week here.
 
Swiper No Swiping
Fordham is tied for second in the country in limiting turnovers, with UAB, with just 11.3 per game. Fordham has committed between five and 15 turnovers thus far this season in all but one game, with five single-digit turnover performances and 11 games with 10 or less. The team's five turnovers at Saint Louis were the fewest since the 2012-13 squad committed just four against Holy Cross on January 6 of that year.
 
The Rams have five of the top 20 in assist/turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10. Zara Jillings is tied for third (1.8), Mary Goulding, Bre Cavanaugh, and Lauren Holden are all tied for 14th (1.4), and Kaitlyn Downey is tied for 20th (1.3). Five of the six Rams who are averaging 20 or more minutes have a positive assist/turnover ratio and the team as a whole has a 377-316 ratio, ranked 31st in the country and tops in the A-10 (1.18).
 
Top-20 Defense
Once again, Stephanie Gaitley's Rams are within the top-20 in scoring defense in the country, currently situated at 11th with 55.0 points allowed per game. The Rams' defense has ramped things up in conference action, as well, holding rivals to just 50.5 per game. Out of 15 games so far, 12 opponents have been held under 55 points and eight under 50.
 
Up Next
The Rams have a first-round bye so they'll next play in one of Friday's quarterfinal games.
 
Conference Only
The Rams are 12-3 and tied with VCU atop the Atlantic 10 standings, although the (other) Rams hold the tiebreaker over Fordham, who are riding a league-best eight-game winning streak. The team is playing its typically stout Gaitley-inspired defense, holding opponents to just 50.5 points per game, second in the league, with just three opponents scoring over 55 points and eight held under 50. Bre Cavanaugh leads the charge offensively with 14.5 points per game, while Mary Goulding is averaging close to a double-double (13.3 points, 9.2 rebounds) with a team-high 49 assists. She also has a team-best 24 steals and is shooting 38.2% from deep. Lauren Holden is chipping in 10.1 points on 36.7% shooting from long range with 44 assists, and Kendell Heremaia has averages of 7.4 points and 6.1 rebounds, with 35 assists and 18 steals. Kaitlyn Downey has also stepped up with 6.9 points on 41.6% overall shooting plus a team-high five blocks.
 
Eight in Eight
The Rams have rattled off eight straight wins with an average margin of 60.5-50.2 and just one opponent scoring over 54 points. Mary Goulding is averaging a near-double-double of 15.1 points (on 48.9% shooting) and 9.8 rebounds (31-of-78 on the offensive end) with a team-high 31 assists and 17 steals over 38.8 minutes per game. Bre Cavanaugh (14.1) and Lauren Holden (10.4) are both in double figures, as well. Cavanaugh is shooting just 33.3% over this stretch and Holden at 32.9% but all other players with at least 13 minutes per game are shooting 39% or better. Freshman Kaitlyn Downey has stepped up with 46.7% overall shooting and 35.7% from deep, while Goulding is converting on 48.9% of her attempts and 40.0% from long range. Five Rams have attempted at least 28 three-point attempts and all but Cavanaugh are shooting at least 35% from long range. The team is averaging 6.4 steals during this run, as well, and limiting opponents to just 29.0 rebounds per game.
 
20 Wins
The Rams secured their third straight 20-win season under Coach Gaitley with Sunday's 76-64 win over Massachusetts. Before Gaitley arrived in the Bronx, Fordham had had just five 20-win seasons in its history, from 1977-80 and in 1991-92 and 1993-94. Under Gaitley, the Rams have six 20-win seasons in eight years.
 
#ShareTheRock
The Rams have a 389/327 assist/turnover ratio through 29 games, ranked 31st in the country (1.18), and no one player stands above the rest in terms of spreading the wealth on offense. Four different players have between 70 and 84 dimes on the year: Mary Goulding leads the squad with 84, Lauren Holden and Kendell Heremaia are close behind with 75 and 74, respectively, while Bre Cavanaugh havs 70. Zara Jillings has 43, as well, off the bench. Among the six players averaging over 19 minutes, only Heremaia doesn't have a positive assist/turnover ratio (74/75).
 
Bombs Away!
The 2018-19 Rams have already recorded the third-most three-pointers in program history, with 220, just one behind the 2016-17 team. Five different Rams have at least 28 threes on the season. Coach Gaitley's Rams have all top-five spots in the all-time ranks, led by the title-winning 2013-14 squad, who drained 244 triples. Fordham is 21st in the country in three-point attempts (711), 42nd in makes (220), and 59th in makes per game (7.6), with all three tops in the A-10. 
 
111th in RPI
The Rams are 111th overall in the RPI standings as of March 1st and second in the A-10, behind VCU (107).
 
Kiwis Coming Through
Fordham's New Zealand contingent of Mary Goulding, Kendell Heremaia, and Zara Jillings combined for 37 points against Charlotte, including 22 in the fourth quarter alone out of the team's 29 points. Jillings hit a three-pointer in the corner then fed Heremaia for a layup to retake the lead for good and Goulding scored 12 points the rest of the way, all from the field, to secure the victory. Against Ball State, with Goulding struggling with her shot (despite tallying seven boards and a game-high six dimes), Heremaia and Jillings each set new career-highs in scoring, with 15 and 12 points, respectively, with the former matching her career-high six field goals and three triples, the latter notching a personal-best two steals to go with eight rebounds and five assists. The trio combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds against Washington and Heremaia netted a new career-best 17 points against #10/9 Texas in the Gulf Coast Showcase final. Heremaia set a new career-high with 16 rebounds against Saint Louis, the most since G'mrice Davis hauled in 18 against Saint Joseph's last March 2nd. Goulding was a big part of the team's win at La Salle, as well, posting a monster all-around line of 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals, the latter two matching her career-highs, and just scored a career-high 24 points against Dayton on Wednesday.
 
Goulding and Heremaia are second and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively, with 12.0 and 8.1 points per game, are first and third in assists, with 84 and 74, respectively, and first and third in rebounding, with 8.3 and 5.3, respectively, while Jillings chips in 3.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 43 assists off the bench. The Kiwis have combined to average 23.5 points per game, or 39.2% of the team's scoring, 16.4 rebounds (46.9% of the team's rebounding), and 201 assists, or 51.2% of the team's total of 389. Against Manhattan on December 1st was the first of three times all three have started together. 
 
Crashing the Offensive Glass
Last year, nearly one-third of the Rams' 1,268 total rebounds came on the offensive glass (408 - 32.1%). Fordham lost leading rebounder G'mrice Davis in the offseason but the Rams haven't missed a beat in 2018-19, hauling in just over that mark (339-of-1,016 – 33.4%). Six different Rams have at least 33 offensive boards: Mary Goulding leads the way with 93-of-231 offensive boards (40.3%), Megan Jonassen has a near-even 50-52 split off the bench, Kaitlyn Downey has 40, Bre Cavanaugh has 39, Kendell Heremaia has 35, and Zara Jillings has 33. Fordham has had between 12 and 19 offensive rebounds in 16 contests this year, including the first six of the year five of the last eight. The Rams matched their season-high with 19 against Maine.
 
Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Through 29 games to open the 2018-19 season, the Rams have had 16 double-doubles by five different players. Mary Goulding leads the pack with eight, including five in her last seven games. She has five near-identical ones - grabbing 12 rebounds each time - before posting 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Davidson, and, most recently, a huge 24-point, 12-rebound effort. Over those seven games, Goulding is averaging 15.5 points and 12.3 rebounds. Bre Cavanaugh, who entered the season with none in her career, has five this year. Kaitlyn Downey posted 11 points and 11 rebounds against Penn State for her first career double-double, Kendell Heremaia did the same with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Washington, and Megan Jonassen joined them with 11 points and 10 boards at La Salle for her first career double-double in her first career start. G'mrice Davis graduated in May tied for a NCAA-wide lead with 57 career double-doubles and had 27 last year alone.
 
Got a Minute?
Senior co-captain Lauren Holden set a new Fordham record with 1,333 minutes played last year, which ranked fourth in the country and second on a per-game basis (39.2), and set the all-time career minutes played record at Davidson on February 13th after the completion of the first quarter, passing current Director of Operations Abigail Corning and Director of Player Development Samantha Clark, with her 4,147th minute. She is currently up to 4,305 career minutes. A starter midway through her freshman year, Holden has also passed Annie Zopf ('09), Denise Hammersley ('95), Kristina Bell ('11), Suzanne Maguire ('97), Monica Mack ('05), Becky Peters ('12), and former teammate Hannah Missry ('17) this season.
 
Holden currently leads all of Division I with 38.77 minutes played per game and is second with 1,124 total minutes. Bre Cavanaugh, who finished her freshman season with the second-most minutes played in a single campaign (1,304), is sixth and third, respectively, with 38.1 minutes per game and 1,105 total, while Mary Goulding ranks 69th (35.7) and 26th (999), respectively.
 
Holden Ascending the All-Time Ranks
Having played the most minutes in Fordham history, it's no surprise to see Lauren Holden's name high up in the record book. The Cape May, N.J. native's recent hot shooting from deep has pushed her into the all-time top-five for three-pointers made, past Maureen Garvey ('01), Abigail Corning ('14), and Suzanne Maguire ('97), into fourth with 206 career triples. Her 85.4% career rate from the free-throw line sits fourth all-time, as well. She became the 21st member of the program's 1,000-point club, currently at 1,109, ranked 18th all-time, at Dayton, and is joint-fifth with 127 appearances and joint-third with 112 starts.
 
G'mrice Thriving in Greece
Former Fordham standout forward G'mrice Davis, the program's second All-American honorable mention, signed her first professional contract with GAS Kalyvion in the Greek A1 league over the summer and, through her team's first 14 contests, is leading the league in rebounding (14.6 per game), is second in scoring (19.8), and is chipping in 2.1 steals, as well, helping Kalyvion to a 7-7 record and fifth-place spot in the league table. The top four teams in the league advance to the playoffs. Eurobasket.com has already named G'mrice the league's Player of the Week four times.
 
Quite the Start
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 63 contests in her Fordham career and has been nothing short of spectacular for the Rams during her time in maroon and white. The redshirt sophomore became the third-fastest player to reach 1,000 career points in a Fordham uniform, the 22nd Ram to ever reach the milestone, and has already entered the top-10 for career three-pointers, now solo 10th with 126. Cavanaugh is averaging 16.7 career points per game on 347 field goals, 126 three-pointers, and 234 free throws, with an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, a 130-102 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 68 steals across 38.2 minutes. Cavanaugh has only been held to single-digit scoring six times in her career and has 23 games of 20 or more points. She became the fourth Fordham rookie last year to record multiple 30-point games and just the sixth player, in any class, to accomplish the feat, as well, with her 37-point game at Saint Louis (1/31/18) serving as the fourth-most by a Fordham player ever and the Atlantic 10's season-high all of last year. Her 1,306 minutes last year were second-most in a single campaign. 
 
Seven-Game Winning Streak
Prior to the team's loss to VCU, the Rams had rattled off seven straight wins since opening nonconference action with a 5-5 record. During the run, Fordham had wins at Iona, over Maine and Middle Tennessee State at the 12th Annual Holiday Classic, at George Washington, Richmond at home, and at Saint Louis to begin conference play. Here were some key stats from the team's winning streak:
                - Average margin of victory: 60.6 to 48.7 (+11.9)
                - Outshot opponents 40.9% to 38.9% overall and 33.3% to 22.3% from behind the arc
                - Outrebounded opponents 36.3 to 28.0 (+8.3), including 90-49 on the offensive glass
                - Bre Cavanaugh averaged 16.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals over 39.4 minutes
                - Mary Goulding averaged 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game
                - Lauren Holden averaged 10.9 points on 46.7% overall shooting and 44.1% from deep
                - Jonassen (54.5%), Goulding (50.7%), Jillings (47.6%), and Holden (46.7%), shot well
 
Coach Gaitley Reaches 150 Fordham Victories
The 68-49 win over Columbia was head coach Stephanie Gaitley's 150th in charge of the Fordham women's basketball program. She became the program's all-time winningest coach in 2016 and picked up career victory number 600 last year.
 
Other milestone Fordham victories for Coach Gaitley include:
                - First win: at home against Cleveland State, 52-43, on 11/16/11
                - 50th win: at home against Saint Louis, 74-52, on 1/2/14
                - 63rd win: in the A-10 Championship game against Dayton, 63-51, on 3/9/14, in Richmond, Va.
                - 100th win: against Little Rock, 65-43, at home in the opening round of the preseason WNIT on 11/19/16
                - 116th win (to become the program's leader in wins): vs. Massachusetts, 74-43, on 2/11/17
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold an 98-30 (76.6%) record at home across 128 contests. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Rams are 41-9 in the Bronx, including a 19-5 mark in conference play and two Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 15-3 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 67-64 (51.2%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 42-4 over its last two-plus seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including a 16-3 mark a year ago and 11-1 record this season. After scoring at or under 55 points across the first six contests last season, the Rams rattled off 21 games with at least 60 points over their final 28 games. The loss at Pittsburgh earlier this year was the first while scoring over 60 since a double-overtime loss at Saint Louis last January 31st.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 66-6 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 of this year snapped a streak of 16 straight wins but the Rams have had five since and have a 10-1 overall record this year.
 
Getting Defensive
Gaitley's Rams are known for their stout defense and last year was no different. Fordham allowed just 56.1 points per game to opponents, which ranked 15th in the country. The Rams allowed just 13 60-point games and held an 11-0 record when opponents scored below 50 points. Two big reasons why was holding opponents to just 29.7% shooting from behind the arc, one of the lowest marks in the country, and outrebounding foes by a margin of 6.6 boards per contest. This year, the Rams are 11th nationally with 55.0 points allowed per game, have allowed just nine 60-point games, are 10-1 when opponents score under 50, and opponents are shooting 29.6% from beind the arc. Under Gaitley, the Rams have been a top-50 defense in all eight seasons and have finished within the top-20 in half of them.
 
Three Sign Their NLIs
Coach Gaitley and the program announced three future additions to the team as Anna DeWolfe, Eden Johnson, and Sarah Karpell signed their National Letters of Intent. To read more about the newest Rams, click here.
 
Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll Results
For the second year in a row the Rams have themselves a preseason First Team All-Conference honoree. Last year it was senior G'mrice Davis but this year it is redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, who finished up a sensational rookie campaign with Second Team and All-Rookie distinction plus being named the MBWA's Metropolitan Rookie of the Year. The team, meanwhile, was predicted to finish in a tie for third place, alongside reigning conference champions, George Washington, in what is the highest the Rams have ever been in the annual poll under Coach Gaitley. Click here to read more.
 
Career Milestone Watch
- Bre Cavanaugh is 46 points away from 1,100
- Bre Cavanaugh is three field goals away from 350
- Bre Cavanaugh is 24 three-pointers away from 125
- Bre Cavanaugh is 16 free throws away from 250
- Bre Cavanaugh is 20 assists away from 150
- Mary Goulding is one three-pointer away from 50
- Mary Goulding is 21 rebounds away from 500
- Mary Goulding is 31 assists away from 200
- Kendell Heremaia is 15 starts away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is 11 steals away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is 25 rebounds away from 250
- Lauren Holden is 24 assists away from 300
- Lauren Holden is 19 threes away from 225
- Lauren Holden is 30 field goals away from 400
- Lauren Holden is three appearances away from 130
- Lauren Holden is three starts away from 115
- Zara Jillings is five assists away from 100