Bronx, N.Y. – The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) revelated its annual year-end honors on Friday and once again the Fordham women's basketball program was well-represented. Head coach Stephanie Gaitley was named the Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year for a second straight year and a third time during her tenure in the Bronx, Bre Cavanaugh was named the Division I Player of the Year after winning Rookie of the Year honors last season, plus First Team recognition, and Mary Goulding was named to the Second Team. It's the third straight year that Fordham has earned a spot on the First Team and second straight season with a representative on the Second Team.
 
"It's always an honor to be recognized for the All-MET awards," Gaitley said, "We appreciate and are thankful for all they do to make our sport so special. I am humbled to be named the Coach of the Year. It is a result of a total team effort, including our staff, players, support staff, and administration. It's a really nice way to finish off a historical season!"
 
Gaitley oversaw one of the youngest groups in the country during the 2018-19 campaign and led them to the program's second-ever Atlantic 10 title and a share of its first-ever regular season championship. The Rams' 25 wins are tied for third-most in the program's history, while the squad also set a new record with nine straight conference wins and tied the record for a 12-game overall win streak that stretched into and through the Atlantic 10 championship, where Fordham coasted to the title with an average margin of victory of just under 23 points in three games. After starting the year 5-5 the team went on a 20-3 run to finish with a 13-3 record in league play, a new school benchmark for victories, and a first-round bye. Fordham was named a 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and drew an opening round game at nationally-ranked Syracuse.
 
Despite a young squad of just three upperclassmen out of 16, the Rams enjoyed their highest-ever finish in the national ranks in several categories, namely finishing the year ninth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 54.4 points per game. Fordham was also seventh in turnovers per game (11.5) and ninth in fouls per game (13.3). The Rams were also 37^th in assist/turnover ratio (1.14) and sank the 37^th-most three-pointers in the nation (267), a new school single-season record. In regard to the former number, five players finished with at least 50 assists on the year and four recorded between 80 and 94 on the year.
 
Gaitley recently had her contract extended for two years through the 2024-25 season.
 
Cavanaugh, the program's first MBWA Rookie of the Year and a Second Team member following her redshirt freshman season last year, becomes the school's first MBWA Player of the Year following a standout redshirt sophomore campaign. She's also the third Ram to earn First Team honors after G'mrice Davis (2017 & 2018) and Erin Rooney (2013 & 2014). The Allamuchy, N.J. native led the Rams and finished second in the Atlantic 10 with 17.1 points per game, while starting all 34 games. She added 6.4 rebounds, 32 steals, 84 assists, and a team-high 74 three-pointers, joint-fifth-most for a single campaign. Cavanaugh was a four-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, earned Player of the Week honors once from each of the NCAA, the MBWA, and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), and was an ESPNW honorable mention, as well. She earned All-Tournament honors at both the Gulf Coast Showcase and the Fordham Holiday Classic, earned Atlantic 10 First Team honors, and was a member of the A-10's All-Championship squad.
 
Cavanaugh's 581 points this year ranks eighth all-time in a single year. She became the 21^st member of the program's 1,000-point club and the third-fastest Ram to reach the milestone, doing so in just 60 games, and is up to 14^th already with 1,159 career points. She is also up to eighth all-time with 260 free throws made, ninth with 141 career three-pointers, seventh with an 82.8% conversion rate at the charity stripe, and is fourth all-time with an average of 17.0 points per game. She had 13 20-point performances this year and scored in double figures in all but three contests.
 
"I am so happy to see Bre recognized for the season she had this year. She showed improvement in every statistical category, which helped lead us to both the A-10 regular season and conference championships."
 
Goulding is the third Ram to earn Second Team honors after Cavanaugh a year ago and Marah Strickland in 2013. The Rangiora, New Zealand native led the Rams in every statistical category besides scoring and overall field goal numbers. The senior averaged 12.8 points on 47.9% shooting overall and 39.8% from behind the arc, the latter mark tied for 10^th all-time in a single season, with 8.4 rebounds, which ranked third in the Atlantic 10, and a team-high 94 assists, 41 steals, and nine blocks. She was even better in league play with a near double-double of 13.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. Over the team's 12-game win streak that carried them to the championship, Goulding averaged 16.6 points and 9.3 rebounds, while shooting 52.9% from the field and 45.1% from deep.
 
Goulding especially dominated in Pittsburgh, averaging 20.7 points on 57.5% shooting, 56.3% from deep, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the line, plus 6.7 rebounds and seven steals over three games to be named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player. She also earned First Team All-Conference recognition and was a three-time A-10 Player of the Week and one-time AJCU Player of the Week.
 
"Mary had a fantastic season year and to be named All-MET is just icing on the cake. Mary is a great example of hard work and perseverance paying off. I couldn't be happier for her!"
 
Cavanaugh and Goulding are the first Fordham teammates to both earn First Team honors in the Atlantic 10 era.