Women's Basketball Wins the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship

Highlights | Fordham Highlights | A-10 Photo Gallery | Postgame

Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Fordham women's basketball team is the 2019 Atlantic 10 Champions after defeating top-seeded VCU, 62-47, on Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center. With the win, the team's 12th straight, matching the program record set by the other title-winning team in 2013-14, the Rams improve to 25-8 on the year, tied for fourth-most victories in a single campaign, while VCU finishes its season at 23-9.

Bre Cavanaugh scored a game-high 22 points and Mary Goulding added 19 points and four steals in the win. Both were named to the All-Championship team, with Goulding named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. 

The Rams are now destined for their third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will air next Monday, March 18th. 
 
"I'm so proud of this team for overcoming a talented and well-coached VCU team." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "Coach O'Boyle is the A-10 Coach of the Year for a reason. I thought we executed our gameplan on defense and were able to rebound effectively to limit VCU to one shot each possession and dictate what we wanted them to do. We stayed together through their runs and we were patient on offense. I'm especially happy for Mary and Lauren, our seniors, because they gave it their all and really wanted this for themselves and their teammates. There's still more work to be done!"
 
VCU started off brightly, taking a 4-0 lead on a pair of free throws by Tera Reed and a Syndei Archie jumper but Fordham rattled off nine unanswered points shortly after. A Bre Cavanaugh three jumpstarted the offense as her and Mary Goulding combined to give their team a 9-6 lead. A few minutes later and Goulding and Kendell Heremaia pushed the 'visiting' Rams ahead by two, 13-11, at the end of the first period. Though VCU would threaten, Fordham would never relinquish its lead again.
 
Goulding drilled back-to-back threes over the opening two minutes of the second to give her team an eight-point cushion. VCU would battle back to get within four on three occasions and two, 25-23, on a Sofya Pashigoreva lay-up with three minute to play in the half, but the Rams were able to close out the half with five unanswered points, on a Kaitlyn Downey triple and a pair of freebies by Cavanaugh.
 
Lauren Holden kicked off the second half with a three to give Fordham its first double-digit advantage of the evening. The Rams led by as much as 12 and as few as seven in the frame but an even 8-8 split in the period gave the two seed a seven-point advantage heading to the final frame, 38-31.
 
A Cavanaugh jumper and a pair of Goulding free throws, after another steal, put the Rams up 11, 42-31. Pashigoreva got the deficit back to single digits with a lay-up but Goulding made yet another clutch triple and her Rams would lead by double digits the rest of the way. Fordham saw out the game with 17-of-18 makes from the stripe in the fourth quarter alone, hitting a season-high 24-of-26 from the line (92.3%), the team's most makes since 23 against Davidson (1/4/17) and best percentage with more than 15 attempts since the 2009-10 team converted 28-of-30 (93.3%) against San Jose State.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with a game-high 22 points on 4-of-14 shooting and a career-best 13-of-14 from the free-throw line, with a team-high seven rebounds, plus two assists and a steal over 40 minutes. Goulding, limited to 31 minutes due to foul trouble, finished with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-5 from deep, and 4-of-4 from the line, with three rebounds, and a career-high-matching four steals. Kaitlyn Downey chipped in seven points, four boards, and a season-high four assists over 37 minutes, while Heremaia and Holden each posted six points.

Fordham held VCU to just 3-of-13 from behind the arc (23.1%), while hitting 6-of-16 (37.5%) themselves and forced 18 turnovers, scoring 16 points from them. Meanwhile, the Rams committed just eight, the team's third-fewest on the year and fewest in almost two months. It is the sixth time they have committed single-digit turnovers.

Over three days, Fordham outscored its opponents 70.3 to 47.7, a margin of 22.7 per game. The Rams shot 47.4% overall, 47.8% from behind the arc, and 35-of-38 from the line (92.1%). Cavanaugh led the way with 23.3 points per game on 45.8% shooting, 50.0% from long range, and 18-of-20 from the stripe, with 4.7 boards per game, and a team-high 10 assists. Goulding was ultra efficient with her 20.7 points per game, shooting 57.5% from the floor, 56.3% from deep, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the line, plus 6.7 rebounds (half of her 20 coming on the offensive glass), a team-high seven steals, and six assists across 32.3 minutes. Heremaia also shot the ball well, hitting 48.0% of her attempts and 6-of-11 from behind the arc (54.5%), for an even 10.0 poits per game to go with 5.3 boards, three steals, and two blocks. 
 
The title is the program's third and second in the Atlantic 10 era, both under Coach Gaitley. The team's 25 wins are tied for third-most in program history. Cavanaugh moved up to 14^th all-time with 1,150 career points, passing Cecelia Wanker ('83) and Hannah Missry ('17), while she solidified herself as 10^th all-time in a single season with 571 points and fourth with 72 threes. The redshirt sophomore also moved into ninth all-time with 257 career makes from the free-throw line. Goulding, meanwhile, finishes the weekend with 264 career rebounds, now just two outside the all-time top-10.

Sunday's championship was the 14th this year in which Fordham has held an opponent under 50 points and the seventh in their last 11 games. 
 
The Rams now await their NCAA Tournament destination. The Selection Show will air next Monday, March 18.