Women's Basketball Hosts La Salle Saturday in Annual Play4Kay Game

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (12-8, 4-3) returns home on Saturday looking to break a two-game skid by hosting La Salle (9-12, 3-5). Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will carry live coverage.
 
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Saturday's game is sponsored by New York Presbyterian Hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation's most comprehensive, integrated academic health care delivery systems, dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients in the New York metropolitan area, nationally, and throughout the globe. In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research, and innovative, patient-centered clinical care.
 
Play4Kay
Since its inception in 2007, the Kay Yow Fund has awarded $7.78 million to support scientific research and programs that serve the underserved in the fight against ALL cancers affecting women. Play4Kay is the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. In 2020, fans have the opportunity to pledge per free throw made by their team during the month of February. To pledge, fans can find their team on the leaderboard of the free throw challenge at KayYow.com.

Other Promotions & Giveaways

• The first 200 fans in attendance will receive pink pom poms and pink water bottles!
• 200 "I Stand Up For" cards will be given out to fans at the ticketing table just inside the Gym at the McGinley Center entrance. During the second quarter media timeout, fans will be asked to stand in honor of those that have been affected by cancer.
• Female Athlete Meet and Great – student-athletes from the Fordham soccer, softball, cross country, track & field, volleyball, and cheer teams will be in the McGinley Center Ballroom starting at 1 p.m.
• Stop by the Bronx Oncology Living Daily table in the McGinley Center lobby where they'll be selling socks to raise money.
• Once again, the Fogo Azul All Women's marching band will be in attendance. They are a New York City-based all-women Brazilian Samba Reggae drum line.    

Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
In what has become a yearly tradition, the Rams wore yellow shoelaces for their game at George Mason 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
Wednesday's loss at VCU made it two straight for the Rams, their first two-game skid since the beginning of the season, and the first time all season (10-0 previously) losing after leading at halftime. Fordham led at the beginning of all four periods but the hosts used a 23-10 fourth quarter to surge past the visitors and steal the victory. The Rams were dominant in the opening 10 minutes, holding VCU to just six points and one field goal. Danielle Hammond, who finished with a game-high 23 points, scored that first basket and the team's second more than 10 in-game minutes later. In the first half, Fordham had held VCU to just 24.0% shooting from the field and 21 points, but had just 25 themselves. In the second half, the Rams struggled to convert chances, shooting 31.0% overall and missing all eight three-point attempts. Hammond and Tera Reed combined for 29 of their team's 41 second-half points, while the offense shot 65.4% over the final 20 minutes.
 
Bre Cavanaugh notched her sixth 20-point effort in seven conference games thus far, with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting to lead the Rams. She and Kaitlyn Downey shared the team-high with six rebounds. Kendell Heremaia racked up a career-high six steals, as well, two shy of the school single-game record. Anna DeWolfe added nine points, five rebounds, and five assists.
 
Series History vs. La Salle
This will be the 50th time the two schools have met, a rivalry that began in 1984 when the two shools competed in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Explorers dominated the series early on with 14 straight wins and hold a 34-15 all-time record over Fordham. Since Gaitley took over, the Explorers took the first two meetings in 2012 but the Rams have rattled off seven consecutive victories over their rivals, including last year's 65-54 road win. In that one, the Rams were led by two players no longer with the team - Lauren Holden, who led the way with 15 points, and Mary Goulding, who stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Bre Cavanaugh and Megan Jonassen, the latter making her first career start, each tallied 11 points. Jonassen nabbed 10 rebounds, as well, for her lone career double-double. Kendell Heremaia provided six assists and three steals off the bench.
 
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 seven and have outscored opponents by 4.3 points while shooting an even 40.0% from the floor. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 23.0 points on 45.7% shooting, 35.7% from distance, and 83.3% from the charity stripe. Kendell Heremaia's producing 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 2.9 assists per game. Besides Heremaia, who has struggled a bit shooting-wise (33.7% overall and 22.2% from deep), the four other starters are hitting 39.4% or better from the field overall, led by Cavanaugh.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 88 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 1,516 career points, now fourth-most all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,372 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,550 (95.0%), 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 187, is fourth with 339 free throws, is ninth with 506 field goals, and is third all-time with a 17.5 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 37 games of 20 or more points. She has played under 30 minutes just once in her career - a blowout win over Iona during her rookie season.
 
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-30 in total attempts and makes. The Rams have taken the 19th-most attempts (514), have made the 24th-most (165), and are 27th with an average of 8.3 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 (7.5).
 
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 74-71 (51.0%) on the road or on neutral ground during her tenure.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 72-7 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, and last Sunday's 48-44 loss broke a stretch of 11 such games.
 
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 remain at home for next Wednesday's meeting with visiting Rhode Island. It's the team's annual Kids Day event with tip-off set for 11 a.m.