Explosive Third Quarter Propels Women's Basketball to Conference-Opening Win

Highlights
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team used a 27-8 third-quarter explosion to coast to a season-high 79 points and a 26-point win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday afternoon, 79-53, in the Atlantic 10 opener. With the win, their eighth straight, the Rams improve to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in league action, while the Bonnies fall to 3-11 and 0-1, respectively.
 
"Great kick-off to conference play by holding a scrappy St. Bonaventure team that made us work for everything," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "We put together a good second half. Proud of the effort!"
 
Fordham held a six-point, 36-30, advantage at halftime, with both teams shooting just under 52.0% from the floor. The Bonnies cut their deficit to three two minutes into the second half but the Rams couldn't miss from that point on, finishing the period on a 24-2 run over those final eight minutes while shooting 10-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from deep. The difference between the two periods was glaring, with Fordham outscoring the Bonnies 43-23 over the final 20 minutes, holding the visitors to just seven rebounds in the second half and forcing them into seven turnovers.
 
The game quickly swung in Fordham's favor when Bre Cavanaugh drained a spot-up three on the first offensive possession, a sing of things to come for the redshirt junior, who scored a season-high 29 on the day. The Bonnies would respond with an 11-4 run to take a four-point lead over the Rams after four minutes of play. Back-to-back threes by Cavanaugh followed to retake the lead as the two schools exchanged baskets throughout the first. Five unanswered points by the visitors tied the game up, 19-19, but an Anna DeWolfe jumper with 90 seconds left pushed Fordham back ahead by two in what eventually proved to be the winning bucket and the final field goal of the quarter.
 
The Rams began the second quarter on a 10-2 run, with all 10 points scored by DeWolfe and Kendell Heremaia, but St. Bonaventure would again rally, this time with six unanswered points to get within four, 31-27. The Rams stopped the skid and saw out the half with a six-point lead.
 
Asianae Johnson began the second half by picking off a Heremaia pass and laying it in on the other end. A free throw by Sarah Karpell was answered by a Johnson jumper and a DeWolfe make preceded a mid-range jumper by Amanda Oliver. From that point on, 39-36, it was all Fordham. Cavanaugh drove into the paint and saw a floater fall then hit a three the next time down the court. The possession afterwards, Heremaia blew past her defender for an easy lay-in, prompting a timeout by Bonnies coach Jesse Fleming at the seven-minute mark. Heremaia continued her stellar play out of the break by finding Kaitlyn Downey down low with a precise pass then picked off Oliver and drilled a jumper on the other end. Karpell added a long-range make and again Heremaia found Downey with a nifty pass under the basket to extend the lead to 19 heading into the media timeout, at that point 16 unanswered points in the frame. Johnson finally snapped the skid with a jumper but the Rams continued to pile on, with consecutive three-pointers from Cavanaugh and Heremaia and finally a pair of free throws from Cavanaugh with two seconds left in the period.
 
The lead eventually grew to 30, 73-43, following free throws by DeWolfe, but by that point Cavanaugh and Heremaia had already headed to the bench. The Rams saw the game out by hitting 8-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter.
 
Cavanaugh matched her season-low of 33 minutes but led the way with a season-high 29 points on a season-high 10-of-14 overall and 5-of-6 from behind the arc. The redshirt junior added 4-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe, three rebounds, and a steal. Heremaia again double-doubled, her third this year and second in the past three contests, with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, 11 rebounds, and team-highs of five assists, two steals, and a block over just 29 minutes. DeWolfe and Downey also finished in double figures, with 13 and 10, respectively, with the former chipping in six boards and three assists, the latter two boards and two assists. Megan Jonassen came off the bench for two points and 3-of-4 rebounds on the offensive glass, while redshirt freshman Chloe Chaffin made her return to the court following more than a year out due to injury, hitting 2-of-4 from the line across eight minutes. Also on the scoresheet were Vilisi Tavui, with a putback lay-up, and Edona Thaqi, who scored her first career point with a free throw.
 
The Rams shot a season-high 52.7% from the floor and reached double-digit threes for a fifth consecutive contest, converting 10-of-14 from behind the arc. The offense is up to 40.1% and 34.1% marks, respectively, for the season. Fordham won the battle on the glass, 34-20, and handed out 13 assists to 10 turnovers. 20 of Fordham's points came off turnovers and 34 points came in the paint.
 
Fordham continues league play on Wednesday morning, January 8, at Davidson, with tip-off set for 11 a.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM.