Women's Basketball at George Mason Sunday

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (10-6, 2-1) is back in the win column with Sunday's nationally-televised 53-47 victory over George Washington, in which the Rams led wire-to-wire. The Rams will look to create a new win streak with this Sunday's road contest at George Mason (7-10, 1-3), also broadcasted nationally on CBS Sports Network. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Fairfax.

Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
In what has become a yearly tradition, the Rams will be wearing yellow shoelaces for Sunday's contest to try and raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. To make a donation, see Fordham's team page. To learn more about Go4TheGoal and its mission, click here. 
 
Last Time Out
Despite never falling behind or in a tie, Sunday's contest grew more and more tense as the visitors whittled down a double-digit deficit to get within one late in the third quarter and within two late in the fourth. The Rams started off hot, jumping out to a 15-6 advantage while holding GW to 3-of-13 shooting in the first period. Things became defensive in the second with the hosts carrying a 12-11 margin in the frame into a 27-17 lead at the intermission. Fordham's lead grew to its largest of the game, 29-17, but the Colonials began a 15-4 run to get within one, 36-35. Kaitlyn Downey came through with a clutch three in response and hit another on the next offensive possession as the lead eventually grew back to eight. The visitors again rallied, getting to within two, 49-47, as Coach Gaitley called a timeout. Kendell Heremaia saw a three rim out but Tori Hyduke was called for an offensive foul on the other end and the Rams saw things out with free throws.
 
Heremaia led the way offensive with a game-high 14 points, adding six rebounds, a career-high-matching four steals, and an assist over 29 minutes. Downey chipped in 13 points, Bre Cavanaugh had 12, and Anna DeWolfe added 10.
 
Series History vs. George Mason
Fordham holds a 7-3 all-time advantage over the Patriots since 2001. The two schools met four times before Mason joined the Atlantic 10 for the 2013-14 season, with the Patriots winning three of four. Since joining the league, they have not been able to defeat Fordham in six tries, including last year's 64-53 win in the Bronx. Last time in Fairfax, the Rams won by five, 67-62. In the former, Cavanaugh led the way with 22 points and a pair of steals though no current active player scored more than five, while in the latter, Cavanaugh struggled to 14 points on 4-of-20 shooting but produced six boards and four assists, although Heremaia had a solid game off the bench with an efficient eight points, two assists, and a steal in 18 minutes.
 
Cavanaugh, Heremaia Back-to-Back as A-10 Players of the Week
Kendell Heremaia picked up her first career conference accolade after nearly triple-doubling in the big win over Samford to begin this year's Holiday Classic, while Cavanaugh garnered her second award of the season and the sixth of her career by averaging 24.0 points with no turnovers over two wins this past week.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams have begun league play with two wins in three, both coming at home, and have outscored opponents by 6.7 points while shooting 44.2% from the floor. In those three games, the Rams are averaging just 10.3 rebounds per game and holding oppoennts to 25.0% on three-point attempts. The Rams are uncharacterically hitting just 61.8% of free-throw attempts, though. Bre Cavanaugh is averaging 20.7 points on 51.1% shooting, 41.2% from distance, but 64.3% from the charity stripe. Kendell Heremaia's producing 14.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.0 steals per game. Kaitlyn Downey, at 53.8%, and Anna DeWolfe, at an even 50.0%, are also hitting at least half of their overall attempts.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 84 contests in her Fordham career and has been nothing short of spectacular for the Rams during her time in maroon and white. The redshirt junior became the third-fastest Ram to reach 1,000 career points, doing so in 60 contests, and is already close to joinining the all-time top-five in scoring, amassing 1,439 career points, up to sixth all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,213 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,390 (94.8%), finishing each of the last two seasons within the top-10 in that category nationally and doing so again this year. She's already moved into the top-10 for three-pointers, now sixth with 174, is fourth with 323 free throws, and is fourth all-time with a 17.1 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 33 games of 20 or more points.
 
Bombs Away!
After setting a new program record for made three-pointers last year, it's no surprise to see the 2019-20 Rams are one of the voluminous three-point shooting teams in the land, in the top-25 in total attempts and makes. The Rams have taken the 23rd-most attempts (414), have made the 22nd-most (138), and are 19th with an average of 8.65 per game. The win at Charlotte was a masterclass in long-range sniping as the team hit 48.4% of its 31 attempts, with the 15 makes ranking second-most all-time at Fordham and most away from home. Kaitlyn Downey hit 6-of-8 in the contest, the most by a Ram since Bre Cavanaugh hit six at Drexel in the second round of the 2018 WNIT. Against St. Bonaventure, the Rams hit 10-of-14 from distance (71.4%), a fifth straight game with double-digit makes. Among their A-10 rivals, the Rams have made the most threes and are averaging almost a full make per game more than the school with the second-most, La Salle (7.7).
 
National TV Games
With Sunday's win on CBS Sports Network, the Rams improved to 6-1 over  the last three seasons when shown on the network. Overall, they are 7-4 over the last three seasons and 9-6 in the last five. These don't include ESPN+, ESPN3, or BTN+ or ACC Extra contests.
 
This is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 106-31 (77.4%) record at home across 137 contests. Over the last three seasons, the Rams are 48-11 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 20-5 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. Last year, Fordham finished 12-4 at home overall and 6-2 in league action. On the flip side, Gaitley's Rams are 73-69 (51.4%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 72-6 record when holding opponents under 50 points during her tenure. Three 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 last January 16th snapped a streak of 16 straight wins. A new streak began soon after with a 56-38 win at Rhode Island, which has now reached 11 games with the win over George Washington on Sunday.
 
Cavanaugh Named Player of the Week by Three Outlets
Bre earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors on December 9 after averaging a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double over two wins last week. On Tuesday, she earned the same distinction from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association and was named National Jesuit Player of the Week by the AJCU.
 
DeWolfe Named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week
The freshman from Cumberland, Maine was instrumental in the team's first two wins of the season, matching and then surpassing her season-highs in scoring and averaging 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals over 36.5 minutes, while shooting 48.4% from the floor and 41.2% from deep. She was named Rookie of the Week on November 25.
 
Rams in the Pros
G'mrice Davis, who graduated in 2017, currently plays professionally with Bnot Hertzeliya in Israel after spending time in Greece with GAS Kalyvion and Australia with the Rockland Cyclones, which featured her former teammate and 2019 graduate Mary Goulding. Davis is averaging 14.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game with her new team despite their 3-7 record. Mary finished her season strong and moved on to Swedish Damligen, where she now plays for IK Eos. Lauren Holden, who graduated in 2019, immediately moved into coaching, joining up with former associate head coach Angelika Szumilo at Fairleigh Dickinson as one of her assistants. The Knights are 6-10 overall but 3-2 in the Northeast Conference.
 
Up Next
Atlantic 10 play continues at home this Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Saint Louis. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will have live coverage.