Women's Basketball at Duquesne Tuesday in Final Road Contest of Regular Season

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (18-9, 10-4) embarks on its final road contest of the regular season, taking on Duquesne (17-10, 7-7) on a neutral court - Robert Morris' UPMC Events Center, due to construction at the Palumbo Center, on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org will carry live overage. Admission is free for all fans.
 
Alumnae Day
The Rams' season finale on Saturday, February 29, against Saint Joseph's has been announced as this year's Alumnae Day. Join current and past Rams in Dagger John's at 12:30 p.m. prior to the game at 2 p.m.! For more information, click here.
 
Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
In what has become a yearly tradition, the Rams wore yellow shoelaces for their game at George Mason and this past Saturday, as well, to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. To make a donation, see Fordham's team page. To learn more about Go4TheGoal and its mission, click here. 
 
Play4Kay
Fordham has worn its pink jerseys in four games this month, posting a 4-0 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
The Rams shook off a sluggish start on Saturday, scoring just five points in the opening 10 minutes, and outscored Dayton, 19-5, in the second frame, surpassing the Flyers and never looking back. Outside of Kendell Heremaia, all other Rams were a combined 0-of-8 from the floor with six turnovers in that opeing period. Heremaia yet again provided a jolt for the offense, hitting a midrange jumper two minutes into the quarter and then tying the game at 10-all with a three-pointer. It was Bre Cavanaugh's free throws with 5:06 on the clock that put the hosts ahead for good. By the end of the run, it had been 11 unanswered points by the Rams over the first six minutes of the second and they eventually held a 24-15 lead at the break. Down by as much as 10 in the third, the Flyers whittled the deficit down to two, 30-28, with 47 seconds left in the third, but Heremaia came through with a driving layup to make it a four-point game going to the fourth. Dayton got within two twice more over the opening two minutes of the final period, but the Rams converted all four of their field-goal attempts, including a Kaitlyn Downey three-point play and another Heremaia triple. The Flyers were held to no field goals over the final four-and-a-half minutes as Cavanaugh and Downey went 5-of-6 from the line down the stretch.
 
Cavanaugh led the way with 20 points, missing a double-double by one rebound, while playing all 40 minutes for a sixth consecutive contest. Heremaia finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, while DeWolfe and Downey combined for 13 points and 10 boards. Sarah Karpell handed out a team-high three assists and Megan Jonassen hauled in five more rebounds (three offensive) over 11 minutes off the bench.
 
Series History vs. Duquesne
The Dukes hold a 21-9 series advantage over the Rams since the latter joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995-96. Fordham is 5-7 against them since Gaitley took over the program, including four straight. Most recently, Fordham dominated Duquesne, 76-34, in the semifinals of last Spring's A-10 Championship, hosted by the Dukes at the Palumbo Center. In that game, the Dukes shot a combined 23.9% from the floor, while Bre Cavanaugh and Mary Goulding each scored 19 points. Cavanaugh added five rebounds and a team-high five assists, while Kendell Heremaia chipped in 10 points and five boards.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 95 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 1,670 career points, now fourth-most all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,650 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,830 (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 196, is fourth with 378 free throws, seventh with an 84.0% career free-throw percentage, sixth with 548 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 40 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 a 86.8% 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 14th-fewest free-throw attempts in the country (290), the Rams are converting at a 79.3% rate, good for fifth in the nation and what would easily be a school record. William & Mary is first at 81.1%. Fordham is also committing just 11.9 turnovers per game (13th) and have a 1.05 assist-turnover ratio, which ranks 57th. The Rams defense has normalized and has surged up to 18th overall and tops in the Atlantic 10 with 55.4 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 25th-most attempts (653), hit the 52nd-most (200), and are averaging 7.4 per game (62nd), all second-most in the Atlantic 10.
 
It's no surprise to see Bre Cavanaugh near the top of the minutes-played category, ranking fourth  in the country with 38.9 minutes played per game. Bre is also sixth in field goal attempts (463), 27th in free throws made (118), 22nd in free-throw percentage (.868), and 54th in made field goals (169). Her 18.9 points per game rank 25th overall and first in the Atlantic 10. Kendell Heremaia's 8.0 rebounds per game ranks 135th 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 55.4 points per game, ranked 18th nationally and what would be fourth all-time in program history. Gaitley's Rams have held opponents under 50 points 83 times in 291 games (28.5%) and hold a 76-7 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 200 long-range makes, ranked sixth all-time in program history. The 2015-16 team is next with 205.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams are 10-4 in league play, are outscoring opponents by 5.9, and having the second-best scoring defense (52.9 allowed). The Rams are shooting  38.5% from the floor and 80.5% from the line, but struggling to just 28.1% makes from deep. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 20.9 points on 38.0% shooting and 88.9% from the charity stripe on 72 attempts. Kendell Heremaia's producing 12.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game, while Anna DeWolfe is averaging 11.5 points on a team-high 40.5% shooting. The offense has been fantastic inside the arc (44.6%) but have struggled from long distance, converting just 28.1% attempts, while opponents shoot 30.0%. 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 111-31 (78.2 %) record at home across 142 contests. Over the last four seasons, the Rams are 55-11 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 26-5 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 76-7 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. Saturday's win made it four 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 host Saint Joseph's on Saturday in the regular season finale at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org will have live coverage.