Women's Basketball Hosts Undefeated Dayton on Saturday

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (17-9, 9-4) will look to get back into the win column and to avenge a road loss several weeks ago when Dayton (20-7, 13-0) comes to town for a marquee match-up on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org carry live coverage.
 
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. Now, Fordham will do the same on its home court this Saturday against Dayton. To make a donation, see Fordham's team page. To learn more about Go4TheGoal and its mission, click here. 
 
Play4Kay
Last Sunday's game at Richmond was the Spiders' Play4Kay game. Fordham has worn its pink jerseys in three games this month, posting a 3-0 record. In 2020, fans have the opportunity to pledge per free throw made by their team during February. To pledge, fans can find their team on the leaderboard of the free throw challenge at KayYow.com.
 
When Steph Met Harry
Earlier this year, Villanova head coach Harry Perretta announced his retirement after this season. Fordham coach Stephanie Gaitley played under Perretta in his initial years with the Wildcats and helped lead the team to the 1982 AIAW Final Four. Andy Lipton sat down with both Perretta and Gaitley to talk to them about their relationship and their respective coaching careers. Watch here.
 
Last Time Out
For three and a half quarters, Wednesday's contest between Fordham and Saint Louis was the feisty, defensive battle that is typical of their rivalry. However, the Billikens, led by Jaidah Stewart, sprinted past the Rams over the final four-plus minutes with a 17-5 run after losing the lead for the first time. Fordham kept within striking distance the entire contest, never falling behind by more than six points and mostly sitting within three points of Saint Louis. Bre Cavanaugh scored 10 points in the second quarter as the Rams rallied to make it a tie game, 29-29, at the halftime break. The Billikens took an extremely defensive third period, 10-6, with the hosts shooting just 30.8% overall but holding the visitors to just two field goals, both from behind the arc. Anna DeWolfe's late three made it a one-point game, 36-35, but Stewart splashed home a triple in response with 35 seconds remaining to go back up four entering the final frame. Kaitlyn Downey helped Fordham break through, drilling a three-pointer from the wing to give the Rams their first lead of the game, 42-41, and then make it a two-point lead a minute later, 44-42. Stewart was able to hit a floater soon after and Kendra Wilken's layup on the next possession proved to be the game winner.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with her 10th 20-point effort in league action this season, posting 21 points, three rebounds, three assists, and a steal over 40 minutes. DeWolfe also played the full game, leading the Rams with four assists. Downey bounced back from a scoreless game last weekend with her third career double-double - 16 points and 10 rebounds, plus two assists and a steal. Kendell Heremaia chipped in across the board with four points, six rebounds, three assists, a team-high two steals, and a block over 28 minutes, while Megan Jonassen came off the bench with four boards (three offensive), two points, and a block in 16 minutes.
 
Series History vs. Dayton
The Flyers hold a 25-7 advantage since 1995-96, the year Fordham joined the Atlantic 10. That record is 9-3 since Coach Gaitley took over, with the most recent win coming in the season finale in the Bronx last year, 57-48. In Dayton last month, the Rams held the Flyers to just 25.0% overall shooting but shot only 28.8% themselves in a tough, tight 48-44 loss. Jayla Scaife went off for a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Kyla Whitehead tallied one of her own with 13 points and 10 boards. Bre Cavanaugh and Anna DeWolfe combined for 36 points, 81.8% of the team's total.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 94 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 1,650 career points, now fourth-most all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,610 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,790 (95.3%), 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 194, is fourth with 370 free throws, seventh with a 84.1% career free-throw percentage, sixth with 543 field goals, and is third all-time with a 17.6 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 41 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. This season, she leads the Atlantic 10 with 18.9 points per game, ranked 26th in Division I, and leads the conference with an 87.3% free-throw rate.
 
Nationally Speaking 
The Rams find themselves among the top-100 in several national categories in addition to their three-point shooting prowess. Despite taking the 12th-fewest free-throw attempts in the country (277), the Rams are converting at a 79.1% rate, good for fourth in the nation and what would easily be a school record. William & Mary is first at 80.9%. Fordham is also committing just 11.9 turnovers per game (12th) and have a 1.06 assist-turnover ratio, which ranks 51st. The Rams defense has normalized and has surged up to 22nd overall and second in the Atlantic 10 with 56.0 points allowed per game. Gaitley's Rams have finished each of the last eight seasons in the top-50. One of the most voluminous three-point shooting teams in the country, the Rams have taken the 21st-most attempts (634), hit the 47th-most (195), and are averaging 7.5 per game (56th), all second-most in the Atlantic 10.
 
It's no surprise to see Bre Cavanaugh near the top of the minutes-played category, ranking third the country with 38.9 minutes played per game. Bre is also seventh in field goal attempts (444), 31st in free throws made (110), 17th in free-throw percentage (.873), and 48th in made field goals (164). Her 18.9 points per game rank 27th overall and first in the Atlantic 10. Kendell Heremaia's 8.0 rebounds per game ranks 136th overall and third in the A-10.
 
Hungry Like DeWolfe
Freshman Anna DeWolfe earned her second A-10 Rookie of the Week award on February 10 after helping the Rams to a pair of wins with 15.0 points on 50.0% scoring. She was also the team's first award-getter back on November 25.
 
3 and D
Stephanie Gaitley's Rams have dominated the all-time top-10 for scoring defense, holding eight of the 10 spots. The 2008-09 squad holds the record with just 47.9 points allowed per game, while the 1994-95 team is tied with 2015-16 for ninth with 57.3 allowed. Those two years will soon drop out as this year's iteration is allowing just 56.0 per game, ranked 20th nationally and what would be fifth all-time in program history. Gaitley's Rams have held opponents under 50 points 82 times in 290 games (28.3%) and hold a 75-7 record in those contests.
 
Similarly, Gaitley's Rams are all over the top-10 for three-pointers made. In fact, they hold every spot in the top-seven, with last year's squad breaking the 2013-14 title-winning Rams' record by 23 (267 total). They also set the record for attempts with a whopping 826. This year's Rams are already up to 195 long-range makes, ranked sixth all-time in program history. The 2015-16 team is next with 205.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams are 9-4 in league play, are outscoring opponents by 5.4, and having the second-best scoring defense (54.1 allowed). The Rams are shooting  39.0% from the floor and 80.1% from the line, but struggling to just 28.3% makes from deep. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 21.0 points on 39.3% shooting and 90.3% from the charity stripe on 62 attempts. Kendell Heremaia's producing 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and a league-leading 2.2 steals per game, while Anna DeWolfe is averaging 11.9 points on a team-high 40.9% shooting. The offense has been fantastic inside the arc (46.4%) but have struggled from long distance, converting just 28.3% attempts, while opponents shoot 31.2%. Still, the Rams are committing just 10.5 turnovers per contest, fewest in the league by 1.2, and rarely hurt themselves.
 
This is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 110-31 (78.0 %) record at home across 141 contests. Over the last four seasons, the Rams are 54-11 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 25-5 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. After starting the year with two losses at home, Fordham has rattled off 11 straight wins.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 75-7 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 48-44 loss at Dayton on January 26 broke a stretch of 11 such games but holding La Salle to 45 points five days later put them back in the right column. Sunday's win made it three straight.
 
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. Bre also 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. The next day, she earned the same distinction from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association and was named National Jesuit Player of the Week by the AJCU.
 
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 travel out to Duquesne for their final road contest of the regular season. Tip-off on Tuesday night is set for 7 p.m. with ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org carrying live coverage.