Stony Brook, N.Y. – It was a tale of two halves but, after building up as big as a 18-point lead, the Fordham women's basketball team survived a lengthy Stony Brook surge, never falling behind, to pick up the season-opening win on the road on Wednesday night. The Rams begin their 2020-21 campaign with a 1-0 record.
"That was a great win for a lot of reasons – winning on the road and stopping their [win] streak, coming back after building a lead, seeing different kids stepping up to the challenge," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "Kaitlyn and Anna had big games and Sarah hit the big game-winning three. Great win for the Rams!"
Sophomore Anne DeWolfe matched her career-high of 25 points, scoring 23 in the first half alone, while junior
Kaitlyn Downey put up a massive 16-point, 20-rebound double-double, becoming the 18th Ram to reach that number. The Seawolves, last year's America East champions, broke the deficit down to two on several occasions late but sophomore
Sarah Karpell hit a timely three with under a minute to play and the Rams saw out the contest from the free-throw line.
Fordham showcased its two-way potential over the opening 20 minutes. Senior
Kendell Heremaia grabbed an offensive board on the team's opening possession and senior
Katie McLoughlin, making her first career start, scored the game and season's first bucket. The Rams scored on their first three possessions, forcing Stony Brook into an early timeout. The Seawolves tied the game on two occasions, the latter coming early in the second frame, 17-17. However, Downey sank a long-range attempt, providing the go-ahead basket, and kickstarted a 10-0 run, with all seven remaining points coming from DeWolfe. In fact, the duo combined for 21 of the 22 second-quarter points, and Fordham led by 14 at the interval, 39-25.
After shooting 14-of-29 (48.3%) from the floor in the first half, Stony Brook held the visitors to just 8-of-23 shooting (34.8%) over the final 20 minutes. Meanwhile, down 16, 46-30, at the third-quarter media timeout, the Seawolves began to rally out of the break, cutting the lead in half by the end of the frame and eventually getting within one, 50-49, with 6:33 to play. Between the media timeout and Karpell's clutch three, Stony Brook went on a 24-9 run, shooting 11-of-20 from the floor while holding the Rams to 4-of-17 shooting and nine turnovers. Following India Pagan's layup, Heremaia found
Megan Jonassen under the basket for an easy lay-in and the junior was fouled in the process, converting her freebie to provide a four-point cushion.
Heremaia blew by her defender for a layup with 2:43 to play, sandwiched around a pair of Dingle two-pointers, before Karpell's make. Downey and Heremaia hit a combined 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch around a very late three from Anastasia Warren to close the game out.
DeWolfe's 25 points came on 10-of-21 shooting overall, matching another career-high for makes, 3-of-5 from deep, and 2-of-3 from the line, adding four assists over all 40 minutes. Also playing the entire contest was Karpell, who put up a well-rounded effort of eight points, six rebounds, and a team-high five assists, matching her own career-high in the latter and setting a new mark for points and rebounds. Downey converted on 5-of-13 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from deep, with 3-of-4 makes at the stripe. Five of her career-high 20 rebounds came on the offensive glass. She also dished out three assists to just one turnover. Jonassen finished with five points, two boards, and a block, hitting all three of her free throws, while freshmen
Matilda Flood and
Maranda Nyborg made their collegiate debuts. The former notched a steal in four minutes, the latter had two rebounds and an assist in nine minutes.
The Rams finished the contest shooting 42.3% overall and 46.7% from behind the arc. After setting a new program record at the free-throw line a year ago, this year's squad began the season hitting just 68.6% on 16 attempts. The offense committed 19 turnovers, the most in nearly three years – since totaling 20 against Pittsburgh in December, 2017, leading to 22 points for the Seawolves.
Fordham is back in action for next Wednesday night's 51
st Battle of the Bronx against visiting Manhattan. Tip-off from the Rose Hill Gym is set for 7 p.m.
