Hamden, Conn. – The Fordham women's basketball team fell, 62-58, on the road at Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon to fall to 1-1 overall in the early going of the new campaign.
"Great learning experience for a young team," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "We need to learn from our mistakes and come back better on Tuesday against FDU!"
The Rams overcame a sluggish start to race out to an eight-point advantage at halftime, eventually building a 13-point lead two minutes into the second half, before succumbing to a torrid Bobcat rally over the next 10 minutes. Although Fordham kept things close with some late clutch baskets, the hosts held on after wresting the lead away from the Rams late in the third.
Fordham struggled out of the gate, shooting just 3-of-13 from the floor, 0-of-5 from deep, and 5-of-8 from the free-throw line, but trailed by just one, 12-11, at the end of the period thanks to its defensive effort. The Rams came out flying in the second quarter, hitting 47.1% of their shots from the floor, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc, and 2-of-3 from the line, leading, 34-28, at the interval with a 23-point frame.
Anna DeWolfe and
Katie McLoughlin combined for a 7-2 run over the first two minutes of the second half to push the lead to 13, 41-28, but the Bobcats kickstarted a 12-0 run, during which the Rams committed five turnovers, before Gaitley called a timeout. A sixth turnover bled into the media timeout and, out of the break, the Bobcats regained the lead through a Rose Caverly layup, which was quickly cancelled out by a DeWolfe triple following an offensive rebound by
Megan Jonassen. DeWolfe made the lead three again, 47-44, with a layup, but Quinnipiac's leading scorer on the day, Mikala Morris drained a three with under a minute to go to knot the game back up.
A tough, surging layup from McLoughlin cut the deficit to one, 51-50, and a
Kaitlyn Downey triple made it a two-point game, 55-53, with 1:43 to go in the contest. However, Sajada Bonner answered Downey's long make with one of her own after a timeout. DeWolfe would score on a layup with 12 seconds to play after Bonner went 1-of-2 from the line, leaving the Bobcats up by just one point, but Morris would hit 3-of-4 freebies down the stretch to see out the game.
DeWolfe led the Rams in scoring for a second straight game, tallying 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Downey notched her second straight double-double, this time with 12 points and 10 boards, plus a team-high six assists, a steal, and a block, over 30 minutes. McLoughlin had a new career-high by halftime and finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown, over 29 minutes. Jonassen finished second with nine rebounds, adding three points and a block, off the bench in 24 minutes, while
Maranda Nyborg and
Matilda Flood scored their first collegiate points. Nyborg played 24 minutes, scored four points, grabbed six boards, and blocked a shot, while Flood hit 1-of-2 free throws, adding three rebounds and an assist in five minutes.
Fordham won the battle of the boards, 42-35, but committed 19 turnovers for a second consecutive contest, forcing the Bobcats into just 10. The Rams shot 35.8% from the field, and 37.5% from deep, but just 11-of-19 from the charity stripe, though Quinnipiac hit just 59.3% of its own attempts.
The Rams have just two days off before hosting Fairleigh Dickinson in their home opener on Tuesday night. Tip-off against former Fordham associate head coach Angelika Szumilo, now at the helm of the FDU program, and four-year starter
Lauren Holden, now an assistant, is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.
