Women's Basketball Hosts Saint Joseph's in Regular Season Finale

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (18-10, 10-5) will look to bounce back from its loss at Duquesne and solidify its third-place finish with Saturday's regular season finale. The Rams will host Saint Joseph's (9-18, 3-12) with tip-off set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUVSports.org.
 
Alumnae Day
Tomorrow is Alumnae Day!1 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.
 
First Round Tickets Available Now!
Fordham is confirmed as a host for the opening round of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Championship next Tuesday with opponent still to be determined. Tickets are now available for purchase by clicking here. In addition, there will be a cash-only option at the ticketing table tomorrow.
 
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 and Dukes kept things close for three quarters, with both teams scoring between 12 and 16 points and the hosts leading 43-39 entering the final 10 minutes. The game flipped on its head in the fourth quarter, however, with a combined 21 field goals and 38 attempts from the two squads, with Duquesne running away 31-24 winners in the period and 74-63 overall, matching the season-high by a Rams opponent. Prior to that, Fordham had cut the deficit to just one, 43-42, at the beginning of the fourth on an Anna DeWolfe triple. A 7-0 run in the second quarter briefly gave the visitors their last lead of the game, 24-23, but the Dukes scored a pair of baskets to enter the intermission with a four-point cushion. Kendell Heremaia drew the Rams within one on two occasions, first with a three and then with a midrange make within the first five minutes of the third quarter, but the Dukes continued to hold serve. Following a Bre Cavanaugh jumper to get within three, 50-47, the Dukes exploded with a 12-4 run over the next two minutes to push their advantage into double figures.
 
Cavanaugh led the way yet again offensively with 23 points, nine rebounds, an assist, and a steal over 40 minutes, the seventh straight time she's played all 40 minutes and her 12th game with 20+ points in league play. DeWolfe nearly notched her second 20-point effort of the year, finishing with 19 points, three boards, and a team-high three assists. Heremaia notched her sixth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds, plus two assists and two steals, but struggled to just four makes on a career-high 23 attempts. Fordham matched its season-high with a massive 18 offensive rebounds out of 38 total, leading to the fourth-most field goal attempts in program history, 79, but just 25 makes. The Rams also committed just four turnovers, a new season-low and tied for the third-fewest all-time.
 
Series History vs. Saint Joseph's
This will be the 50th meeting between the two schools, with the Hawks holding a 39-10 all-time record since 1972. Saint Joseph's won all five meetings prior to Fordham joining the Atlantic 10. While Stephanie Gaitley coached the Hawks, they were 12-1. Since Gaitley arrived in the Bronx, the series has been split, 7-7, with last year's 51-41 result going the Rams' way in Philadelphia in last year's regular season finale. In that contest, Bre Cavanaugh went off for 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds. Two years ago, the Hawks ended Fordham's season in the A-10 quarterfinals on a last-second three-pointer. Cavanaugh again led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 96 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 1,693 career points, now fourth-most all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,690 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,870 (95.4%), 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 198, is fourth with 385 free throws, sixth with an 84.2% career free-throw percentage, sixth with 555 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 19.1 points per game, ranked 22nd in Division I, and leads the conference with an 87.4% 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 (297), the Rams are converting at a 79.8% rate, good for fourth in the nation and what would easily be a school record. William & Mary is first at 81.1%. Fordham is also committing just 11.6 turnovers per game (9th) and have a 1.07 assist-turnover ratio, which ranks 50th. 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 (678), hit the 45th-most (206), and are averaging 7.4 per game (62nd), the former two second in the conference, the latter tops.
 
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 fifth in field goal attempts (481), 24th in free throws made (125), 16th in free-throw percentage (.874), and 42nd in made field goals (176). Her 19.1 points per game rank 22nd overall and first in the Atlantic 10. Kendell Heremaia's 8.1 rebounds per game ranks 129th overall and third in the A-10. Anna DeWolfe is also 63rd nationally with 35.86 minutes per game.
 
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 points per game, ranked 22nd nationally and what would be fourth all-time in program history. Gaitley's Rams have held opponents under 50 points 83 times in 292 games (28.4%) 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 206 long-range makes, fifth-most in program history, and now just one back of passing 2012-13 for fourth. They are also just two attempts from moving into second all-time.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams are 10-5 in league play, are outscoring opponents by 4.7, and having the second-best scoring defense (54.3 allowed). The Rams are shooting 37.9% from the floor and 81.4% from the line, but struggling to just 27.8% makes from deep. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 21.1 points on 38.1% shooting and 89.9% from the charity stripe on 79 attempts. Kendell Heremaia's producing 11.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game, while Anna DeWolfe is averaging 12.0 points on a team-high 40.7% shooting. The offense has been fantastic inside the arc (43.7%) but have struggled from long distance, converting just 27.8% attempts, while opponents shoot 30.4%. Still, the Rams are committing just 10.1 turnovers per contest, fewest in the league by nearly two turnovers, 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
With Tuesday's loss, the Atlantic 10's top two seeds, and thus first-round byes, have been determined. Fordham will host an opponent TBD next Tuesday in an opening round game.