Women's Basketball Heads to Pittsburgh for 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship

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Championship Central
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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (22-8, 13-3 A-10) clinched a share of the program's first-ever Atlantic 10 regular season championship with a 51-41 road win at Saint Joseph's on Saturday afternoon, the team's ninth straight and 13th league victory, both setting new program records. The Rams earned a first-round bye and will play #10 Massachusetts on Friday, March 8th, at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham-Saint Joseph's meetings are typically low-scoring defensive battles and Saturday was no different - until a late surge by the visitors, led by Mary Goulding's 10 fourth-quarter points. The senior and Bre Cavanaugh combined to score 42 points and haul in 21 rebounds, comprising 82.4 and 61.8% of the team's points and boards, respectively. The Rams led by three, 36-33, heading into the final minutes before Goulding's late heroics and Fordham's defense clamped down on the Hawks to see out its 11th double-digit win of the campaign. While the final frame belonged to Goulding, the first half was all Cavanaugh - the redshirt sophomore scored 19 points, including 14 straight at one point. Cavanaugh began to heat up following a steal and fastbreak layup to tie the game at 13 in the opening period and then hit her first two threes of the day to give the Rams a 19-15 lead after one quarter. Cavanaugh started the second with a triple and drained a fourth after three minutes of scoreless action. Saint Joseph's regrouped after this latest make and closed out the half on a 12-1 run to take a one-point lead into the break. It didn't take long for Fordham to net the go-ahead points and it was Lauren Holden to do so. The senior score four straight points on drives into the paint, the latter bucket proving to be all the visitors needed. Fordham held the Hawks to just 2-of-13 shooting (15.4%) in the fourth and 29.2% in the entire contest, a new season-low for an opponent.
 
Cavanaugh scored 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting and matched her season-best output of five threes. She added eight rebounds. Goulding posted her ninth double-double of the year and sixth in her last 10 games with 16 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting and 13 rebounds, plus a block. Fordham won the battle of the boards, 34-24, but recorded a season-low six assists.
 
Series History vs. Massachusetts
The Minutewomen hold a slim 21-20 all-time advantage since 1980. UMass enjoyed the vast majority of success over a two-decade period after Fordham won the first-ever meeting that year, 81-63, but the Rams have completely turned the tide in the rivalry, winning the last 11 contests, including a 76-64 home win two weeks ago on Senior Day. The two teams have met just once before in the postseason - a 73-62 overtime Fordham win in 2016 in Richmond. In the latter win, Lauren Holden scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out a career-high seven assists. On Senior Day, Cavanaugh scored 27 points, while Mary Goulding and Kaitlyn Downey netted 15 points apiece.
 
All-Conference Honors
Bre Cavanaugh and Mary Goulding were named to All-Conference First Team on Thursday, the first teammates in the A-10 era to earn the distinction in program history. It's the fifth time two Rams have been named All-Conference in the same year and seventh straight year at least one player has garnered All-Conference honors. Goulding was also named to the All-Academic team with a cumulative 3.70 GPA. She is the second Ram to earn the award while being on the First Team (Erin Rooney in 2014). Cavanaugh was named Second Team All-Conference and to the All-Rookie squad last year. Read more about their awards here.
 
Top-10 Defense
For a fourth time, Stephanie Gaitley's Rams are within the top-25 nationally in scoring defense, currently situated at ninth with 54.6 points allowed per game, which would be the program's highest-ever finish. The Rams' defense has ramped things up in conference action, as well, holding rivals to just 49.9 per game. Out of 16 games, 13 opponents have been held under 55 points and nine under 50.
 
Up Next
With a win, the Rams would play the winner of #3 Duquesne and #6 Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
 
A-10 Regular Season Co-Champions
Fordham secured a share of its first-ever Atlantic 10 regular season championship with Saturday's 51-41 win at Saint Joseph's. The Rams finished league play with a school record 13 wins, tied with VCU atop the standings, and a first-round bye. Fordham is riding a program record nine-game conference win streak and are playing their typically stout Gaitley-inspired defense, holding opponents to just 49.9 points per game, second in the league, with just three opponents scoring over 55 points and nine held under 50. Bre Cavanaugh leads the charge offensively with 15.2 points per game, while Mary Goulding is averaging close to a double-double (13.4 points, 9.4 rebounds) with a team-high 50 assists. She also has a team-best 24 steals and is shooting 38.2% from deep. Lauren Holden is chipping in 9.8 points on 34.9% shooting from long range with 45 assists, and Kendell Heremaia has averages of 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, with 37 assists and 20 steals. Kaitlyn Downey has also stepped up with 6.4 points on 41.6% overall shooting plus a team-high five blocks.
 
Nine in Nine
The Rams have rattled off a program-record nine straight conference wins with an average margin of 59.4-49.2 and just one opponent scoring over 54 points. Mary Goulding is averaging a double-double of 15.2 points (on 51.0% shooting overall and 40.0% from deep) and 10.1 rebounds (33-of-91 on the offensive end) with a team-high 32 assists and 17 steals over 38.9 minutes per game. Bre Cavanaugh (15.4) and Lauren Holden (9.7) are both in double figures, as well. The team is shooting 40.3% overall and 35.7% from behind the arc as a squad, while holding opponents to just 28.4 rebounds per game with 123 assists (13.7 per game). Five Rams have attempted at least 28 three-point attempts and each is shooting at least 33.0%. The team is averaging 6.0 steals during this run, as well.
 
We're Going Streaking!
Until this season, no Fordham team had ever won more than eight straight conference contests. Saturday's win at Saint Joseph's became the new program benchmark, besting the 2012-13 squad's eight straight wins and the 1992-93 team with seven in the Patriot League. The nine straight wins are also tied for third-most in a single campaign, with that '92-'93 squad. The legendary 1978-79 team won 10 straight over a three-week span and the Atlantic 10 title-winning 2013-14 team won 12 straight between mid-November and early January.
 
Swiper No Swiping
Fordham is tied for fourth in the country in limiting turnovers, with Maine and Mercer, with just 11.4 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 third (1.8), Mary Goulding, Bre Cavanaugh, and Lauren Holden are all tied for 14th (1.4), and Kaitlyn Downey is tied for 20th (1.2). 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 395-339 ratio, ranked 37th in the country and tops in the A-10 (1.6).
 
Goulding Earns Third Player of the Week Honor
Mary Goulding was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week last week for the third time this season and in her career. The senior co-captain was instrumental in a pair of conference wins, averaging 20.0 points and 12.5 rebounds, with terrific shooting efficiency, in wins over Dayton and at Saint Joseph's. Goulding went off for a career-high 24 points against the Flyers, her first 20-point effort, on 7-of-14 shooting, career-best 4-of-6 from behind the arc, and 6-of-7 from the line, with 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Against the Hawks, Goulding scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and added 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double. Read more about her week here.
 
Cavanaugh Earns Fourth A-10 Player of the Week Award
The redshirt sophomore earned her fourth weekly accolade from the league two weeks ago 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. Cavanaugh was also named one of the NCAA Players of the Week on 1/14. Read more about her week here.
 
20 Wins
The Rams secured their third straight 20-win season under Coach Gaitley with their 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 395/339 assist/turnover ratio through 30 games, ranked 37th in the country (1.16), and no one player stands above the rest in terms of spreading the wealth on offense. Four different players have between 71 and 85 dimes on the year: Mary Goulding leads the squad with 85, Lauren Holden and Kendell Heremaia each have 76, while Bre Cavanaugh havs 71. 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 (76/80).
 
Bombs Away!
The 2018-19 Rams have recorded the second-most three-pointers in program history, with 225, now just 19 behind the title-winning 2013-14 team. Five different Rams have at least 28 threes on the season, with Bre Cavanaugh leading the way with 64, one out of the single-season top-10. Coach Gaitley's Rams have all top-five spots in the all-time ranks, led by the 2013-14 team, who drained 244 triples. Fordham is 25th in the country in three-point attempts (724), 44th in makes (225), and 61st in makes per game (7.5), with all three tops in the A-10. 
 
102nd in RPI
The Rams are 102nd overall in the RPI standings as of March 6th and second in the A-10, behind VCU (93rd).
 
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 boards 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.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 before being named First Team All-Conference.
 
Goulding and Heremaia are second and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively, with 12.1 and 8.0 points per game, are first and second in assists, with 85 and 76, respectively, and first and third in rebounding, with 8.4 and 5.2, respectively, while Jillings chips in 3.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 43 assists off the bench. The Kiwis have combined to average 23.4 points per game, or 39.3% of the team's scoring, 16.3 rebounds (46.6% of the team's rebounding), and 203 assists, or 51.4% of the team's total of 395. 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 (345-of-1,050 – 32.9%). Six different Rams have at least 33 offensive boards: Mary Goulding leads the way with 95-of-244 offensive boards (38.9%), Megan Jonassen has a near-even 51-52 split off the bench, Kaitlyn Downey has 41, Bre Cavanaugh has 40, 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 nine. The Rams matched their season-high with 19 against Maine.
 
Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Through 30 games, the Rams have had 17 double-doubles by five different players. Mary Goulding leads the pack with nine, including six in her last eight games. She has five near-identical ones - grabbing 12 rebounds each time - before posting 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Davidson, a huge 24-point and 12-rebound effort against Dayton, and 16 points and 13 boards at Saint Joseph's last Saturday. Over those eight games, Goulding is averaging 15.6 points and 12.4 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 4,345 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 38.81 minutes played per game and is second with 1,164 total minutes. Bre Cavanaugh, who finished her freshman season with the second-most minutes played in a single campaign (1,304), is fourth and third, respectively, with 38.2 minutes per game and 1,145 total, while Mary Goulding ranks 59th (35.9) and 35th (1,039), 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 85.3% 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 1,113, ranked 18th all-time, at Dayton, and is joint-fourth with 128 appearances and third with 113 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 16 contests, is leading the league in rebounding (14.0 per game), is second in scoring (19.1), and is chipping in 2.1 steals, as well, helping Kalyvion to a 8-8 record and sixth-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 64 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 131. Cavanaugh is averaging 16.9 career points per game on 355 field goals, 131 three-pointers, and 239 free throws, with an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, a 131-103 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 69 steals across 38.3 minutes. Cavanaugh has only been held to single-digit scoring six times in her career and has 24 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.  
 
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
                - 166th win (to clinch the program's first A-10 regular season title): at Saint Joseph's, 51-41, on 3/2/19
 
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 68-64 (51.5%) 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 67-6 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 six since and have a 11-1 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 ninth nationally with 54.6 points allowed per game, have allowed just nine 60-point games, are 11-1 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.
 
Gaitley Gets Career Win Number 600
Stephanie Gaitley got her first career win against Siena on December 28, 1985. She got her 500th career victory while at Fordham, against Temple on March 10, 2013, in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals in Philadelphia. After stops at Richmond, Saint Joseph's, LIU Brooklyn, Monmouth, and now in the Bronx, the Ocean City, N.J. native can claim what less than 75 coaches all-time can: 600 career wins. She did it with a 72-48 win over St. Bonaventure on January 25th of this year, on her birthday, to boot, and currently holds a 630-364 all-time record. She became the program's all-time winningest coach in 2016, against UMass, and has a 166-94 record with the Rams. While with three different schools in the A-10 over her career, she also has the second-most conference wins, 188, but is behind George Washington's Joe McKeown by 50.
 
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 had themselves a preseason First Team All-Conference honoree. Last year it was senior G'mrice Davis but this year it was 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 20 points away from 1,100
- Bre Cavanaugh is 45 field goals away from 400
- Bre Cavanaugh is 19 three-pointers away from 125
- Bre Cavanaugh is 11 free throws away from 250
- Bre Cavanaugh is 19 assists away from 150
- Mary Goulding is 21 points away from 700
- Mary Goulding is one three-pointer away from 50
- Mary Goulding is eight rebounds away from 500
- Mary Goulding is 30 assists away from 200
- Kendell Heremaia is 14 starts away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is nine steals away from 50
- Kendell Heremaia is 22 rebounds away from 250
- Lauren Holden is 23 assists away from 300
- Lauren Holden is 19 threes away from 225
- Lauren Holden is 28 field goals away from 400
- Lauren Holden is two appearances away from 130
- Lauren Holden is two starts away from 115
- Zara Jillings is five assists away from 100