Fairfax, Va. –
Bre Cavanaugh kept up her torrid scoring pace, matching her season-high of 29 points and joined the program's all-time top-10 with 480 career field goals, as the Fordham women's basketball team thwarted George Mason on the road, 66-54. With the win, their second straight and 10
th in their last 12 contests, improved the Rams to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic 10 play.
"Great team effort today with a lot of players contributing to a tough road win!" Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said.
For a second consecutive game, the Rams never trailed. Freshman
Sarah Karpell put Fordham in front for good with an offensive rebound and reverse layup one minute into the contest. A minute later,
Kaitlyn Downey drained a three, a theme on the afternoon for the Rams, who recorded double-digit long-range makes for an eighth time this season and first in three games. Downey hit another one two minutes later to answer Jacy Bolton, keeping the lead at five, 8-3. The Patriots would get within two, 8-6, following a make from distance by Sarah Kaminski but that was as close as they'd get. Fordham held a 14-9 edge after the opening 10 minutes. The second quarter continued to be a defensive battle, with the Rams winning the frame, 12-8, to lead by nine, 26-17, at halftime.
Fordham came out on fire to start the second half, running out to a 19-point lead, 40-21, with a 14-4 run and the offense hitting its first six three-point attempts of the quarter, at least one by four different Rams. The visitors' lead swelled to double digits for the first time following a
Kendell Heremaia triple a minute in and threes followed from Downey, Cavanaugh, and
Anna DeWolfe to cap that run. The Rams led, 49-34, entering the final 10 minutes.
Cavanaugh's three with 3:30 left to play was the 480
th of her career at Fordham, tying her with Becky Peters ('12) for 10
th all-time. That made the score 60-45. The two schools traded free throws over a lengthy final few minutes before the final buzzer.
Cavanaugh's 29 points came on 9-of-20 shooting, 5-of-8 from behind the arc, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. She added five rebounds and two assists over 39 minutes. Downey finished in double figures for a fourth straight game, tallying 15 points with a team-high seven rebounds and three blocks. Heremaia recorded her fourth game of the year with at least five assists, piling up seven in this game, one shy of her career-high, to go with eight points, five rebounds, a block, and an assist over 30 minutes.
Vilisi Tavui came off the bench for four points, a career-high six rebounds, and an assist over 13 minutes.
The Rams shot 41.8% overall and 42.3% from downtown, while committing just nine turnovers. The rebounding battle was tied at 37. Fordham held reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Nicole Cardaño-Hillary to 16 points on four field goals and 8-of-9 shooting from the line. The Patriots shot just 31.5% from the field and 35.3% from long range.
Sunday was also the Rams' annual Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer game - the players wore yellow shoelaces to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. To make a donation, please visit the team's
Go4TheGoal page.
Fordham returns to the Bronx this Thursday night to host Saint Louis at 7 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage.
