Women's Basketball Ends Dayton's Unbeaten Streak with 50-38 Home Win

Bronx, N.Y. – The Dayton Flyers entered the Rose Hill Gym on Saturday undefeated in Atlantic 10 play and top of the standings, but the Fordham women's basketball team shut them down, holding the Flyers to a season-low 38 points and handing them their first league loss. With the win, their 12^th straight at home, the Rams improve to 18-9 overall and 10-4 in conference play, while Dayton falls to 20-8 and 13-1, respectively.
 
"Super win and a great momentum boost heading into the stretch run," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "Great team defense today, that led the way for us!"
 
Looking to avenge a 48-44 loss in Ohio last month, the Rams shook off a sluggish start, withstood a late Dayton rally, and locked down the Flyers offense, holding them to 29.4% overall shooting and 17.6% from behind the arc. Scoring just five points over the opening 10 minutes, the Rams surged ahead with a 19-5 second-quarter effort and never looked back.
 
Fordham was held to just two field goals in the first quarter, both by Kendell Heremaia to cut the deficit to one, 4-3 and 6-5. Aside from Heremaia, the other players were a combined 0-of-8 from the floor and the offense committed seven turnovers as a whole. The offense started to click in the second quarter, though, busting out for 19 points while Dayton had a near-identical stat line to Fordham's opening period. After two-plus scoreless minutes, it was Heremaia again to provide a jolt, canning a midrange jumper and then splashing home a game-tying three two possessions later, 10-10. It was Bre Cavanaugh's two free throws with 5:06 on the clock that put the hosts ahead for good. By the end of the run, it was 11 unanswered points by Fordham over the frame's first six minutes before Jenna Giacone's three-point attempt fell. Cavanaugh and Heremaia went back-to-back with buckets at the end of the half to push the lead to nine, 24-15, at the break.
 
The Flyers, down by as much as 10 in the third, whittled Fordham's lead down to just two, 30-28, with 47 seconds left in the period following a Brittany Ward layup. Again it was Heremaia to step up, driving and laying the ball in with just two seconds to go to make it a four-point game entering the fourth. Dayton got within two twice more over the opening 75 seconds, but the Rams converted all of their first four field-goal attempts, including a three-point play by Kaitlyn Downey and a Heremaia triple. Anna DeWolfe's awkward heave at the end of the shot clock with 6:34 to play fell and made it an eight-point game, 42-34, on the next possession. Dayton took a timeout with six minutes to play and out of the break, Cavanaugh drilled another triple, courtesy of a pair of offensive rebounds by Heremaia and DeWolfe. Jayla Scaife's layup moments later was the last field goal for the Flyers, with just one Erin Whalen free throw the rest of the way for the visitors over the final four-plus minutes. Cavanaugh and Downey combined to go 5-of-6 from the line down the stretch.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with 20 points, nearly double-doubling with nine rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes for a sixth consecutive contest. It's also her 11^th game with 20 or more points this year in league play. Heremaia finished with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 3-of-6 from behind the arc, with seven rebounds and two assists over 38 minutes. DeWolfe and Downey combined for 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Sarah Karpell handed out a team-high three assists. Megan Jonassen came off the bench for five more rebounds, three coming on the offensive glass, in 11 minutes.
 
Fordham shot 32.1% from the floor while holding Dayton to 29.4% shooting and won the battle of the glass, 35-28. The Rams committed just one turnover in the second half and 11 total on the day, while continuing its excellent free-throw shooting, making 11-of-13 from the line.
 
Since the move to the NCAA in 1983, the Rams have held an opponent under 40 points 24 times, all coming after 1990. Coach Gaitley has overseen 13 such wins after today. Fordham is also 76-7 during her tenure when holding an opponent under 50 points.   
 
Fordham's defense has now held Dayton to a combined 86 points on 28-of-103 (27.2%) shooting this year. Outside of their two contests against Fordham, the Flyers are averaging 65.1 points per game this year.
 
With VCU holding a tiebreaker, Fordham will need to win both of its remaining contests – at Duquesne and home to Saint Joseph's – with VCU losing twice at home to George Mason and at Davidson, to earn a first-round bye at the 2020 Atlantic 10 championship. If that scenario doesn't play out, the Rams will host a first-round game on Tuesday, March 3.
 
The Rams and Dukes tip off Tuesday night at 7 p.m., hosted at Robert Morris' UPMC Events Center due to ongoing construction at the Palumbo Center.