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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (12-6, 4-1) carries a three-game win streak into Sunday's showdown against current Atlantic 10 leaders Dayton (13-7, 6-0) on the road at noon. ESPNU and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage.
 
Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
In what has become a yearly tradition, the Rams wore yellow shoelaces for last Sunday's contest to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. Though it's over, fans can always continue to contribute. To make a donation, see Fordham's team page. To learn more about Go4TheGoal and its mission, click here. 
 
Last Time Out
In the two wins prior, the Rams led wire-to-wire, but on Thursday night, they had to fight to reverse a 12-point deficit midway through the third quarter into a 12-point win by the final buzzer. Fordham used a big 20-5 run in the second half, including 12 unanswered points over the final six-plus minutes of the third. Trailing, 14-11, after the opening 10 minutes, the Billikens used a 23-15 run in the second period to take a 34-29 lead into halftime, though it could've been larger had Anna DeWolfe not hit a last-second three. Saint Louis went on a 9-2 run to begin the second half to balloon the advantage up to 12, 43-31, prompting a timeout by Coach Gaitley. It was all Fordham the rest of the way out of the break. The hosts kept the Billikens off the board over the final 6:31 of the frame while erasing the deficit and tying the game up at 43-all. The Billikens led briefly to start the fourth and tied the game back up at 48 but Sarah Karpell's lone attempt and make of the night, a corner three, proved to be the difference. Saint Louis was forced into three straight turnovers and Bre Cavanaugh went on a personal 8-2 run, including back-to-back unassisted three-pointers.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with 27 points, the fourth game out of five she's scored at least 20 to begin conference play, matching her season-high of 10 made field goals. DeWolfe and Kaitlyn Downey chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Kendell Heremaia secured a team-high eight rebounds and recorded a team-high three steals. Vilisi Tavui had her second straight impressive outing, as well, off the bench, matching her career-high of six rebounds to go with three points in 14 minutes.
 
Series History vs. Dayton
The Flyers hold a 24-7 advantage since the Rams joined the Atlantic 10 for the 1995-96 season. Under Gaitley, Fordham has three wins in 11 contests, including lasst year's 57-48 win in the Bronx in the home finale. In that game, the Rams held leading scorers Jayla Scaife and Lauren Cannatelli to 17 points on 7-of-25 shooting. Mary Goulding had a big 24-point, 12-rebound double-double with three assists and two steals, followed by Kendell Heremaia's efficient 14 points. Bre Cavanaugh hit just 3-o-11 shots for 10 points but handed out a team-high four assists. In the game prior, in Dayton, Scaife and Cannatelli combined for 32 points, while no Ram had more than Cavanaugh's 11 in a 22-point loss.
 
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 in two wins two weeks ago.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams have begun league play with four wins in five and have outscored opponents by 8.8 points while shooting 43.7% from the floor. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 23.6 points on 48.3% shooting, 43.2% from distance, and 78.3% from the charity stripe. Kendell Heremaia's producing 11.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Besides Heremaia, who has struggled a bit shooting-wise (36.5% overall and 28.0% from deep), the four other starters are hitting 44.9% or better from the field overall, led by Cavanaugh and Kaitlyn Downey (46.9%).
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 86 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 has already joined the all-time top-five in scoring, amassing 1,495 career points, just three points from passing former teammate G'mrice Davis ('18) for fourth. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,292 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,470 (94.9%), 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 183, is fourth with 332 free throws, and is third all-time with a 17.4 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 35 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-20 in total attempts and makes (as you'll see below and on pages 6-7).  The Rams have taken the 18th-most attempts (466), have made the 14th-most (158), and are 15th with an average of 8.8 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 more than 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 7-1 over the last three seasons when shown on the network. Overall, they are 8-4 over the last three seasons and 10-6 in the last five. These don't include ESPN+, ESPN3, BTN+ or ACC Extra contests.
 
This is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 107-31 (77.5%) record at home across 138 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 74-69 (51.8%) 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. Lauren Holden, who graduated in 2019, immediately transitioned into coaching, joining up with former associate head coach Angelika Szumilo at Fairleigh Dickinson as one of her assistants.  
 
Up Next
The Rams have another quick turnaround with their trip to VCU for Wednesday night's 7 p.m. clash.