Amherst, Mass. – The Fordham women's basketball team withstood a late charge by the host Minutewomen but led for the majority of the contest in a 69-64 win on Saturday afternoon. With the win, their third straight, the Rams improve to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in Atlantic 10 action, while UMass falls to 16-8 and 6-5, respectively.
"Super road win against a very good UMass squad," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "Lots of different people contributed offensively and Sarah did a terrific job defensively. Great team win!"
What seemed like a runaway victory after a 23-9 second quarter turned into a tense single-digit affair down the stretch, but the Rams held on during a frenetic Minutewomen rally and converted 11-of-12 free throws in the final period to pick up their seventh league win of the year, maintaining their grasp on third place. Fordham led, 34-19, at halftime, but the Minutewomen rallied with 45 second-half points on 17-of-32 shooting to eventually get within three with several seconds to play. The trio of
Bre Cavanaugh,
Kaitlyn Downey, and
Kendell Heremaia kept the game out of reach with their free-throw makes down the stretch.
The game started off defensively, with a slim 11-10 advantage for the visitors after the opening 10 minutes. The Rams started off with a 7-2 run by the media timeout after five minutes of play. The Minutewomen rallied for its lone lead of the contest with six unanswered points, capped by a Destiney Philoxy layup, 8-7, but Cavanaugh retook the lead for good with a make in the paint. With
Zara Jillings' layup a minute later, five different Rams scored in the first quarter.
Fordham was scorching hot in the second quarter, hitting 9-of-15 attempts, including 8-of-11 inside the arc, while holding UMass to just nine points on two field goals. Tory Verdi was forced into using his first timeout less than three minutes in as Fordham had rattled off a 10-2 run to take a nine-point lead, 21-12. The Rams started with six straight points from free throws by Cavanaugh and field goals by
Anna DeWolfe and Downey. Following a Hailey Leidel layup, her lone make until a late three, Cavanaugh and Heremaia went back-to-back in the paint, prompting the timeout. Fordham closed the half with a 13-7 run, punctuated by a long three by Heremaia with a minute left.
The Rams built their lead to its largest of the afternoon, 42-26, and kept it in double figures throughout the period. UMass' Sam Breen converted a layup in the final seconds to get within 11, 49-38. After three minutes of play it was Gaitley's turn to burn a timeout. Massachusetts began the final frame with 6-2 run to cut the deficit to seven, then got within five twice over the next two minutes out of the break. What proved to be the difference was perhaps a quick 5-0 strike by the visitors over a 45-second span late in the quarter. Downey drilled a long-range attempt to push the lead to eight and, on the other end, DeWolfe stripped Philoxy, assisting on
Sarah Karpell's fastbreak layup to get back to double digits with 3:35 to play. The Minutewomen continued to press and make baskets, eventually getting with three with just a few seconds remaining following back-to-back threes by Leidel and Breen. Downey sank a pair of freebies with .1 left on the clock to see the game out.
Cavanaugh led the way with 22 points on 6-of-16 shooting and a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. She added five rebounds, four assists, and a steal over 40 minutes, the 10
th time this year she's gone the distance. Joining her for all 40 minutes was DeWolfe, who scored 12 points on 6-of-9 two-point shooting. Heremaia finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep, and 5-of-6 from the line. She shared the game-high of four assists with Cavanaugh. Downey was one rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 11 points and nine boards, plus three dimes, over 28 minutes.
The Rams shot 46.0% overall from the field, fourth-highest rate on the year, while shooting a season-high 20-of-22 from the line, tied for 11
th-most makes away from home in program history. Fordham again limited its turnovers to just 10 for a second straight game and seventh this year with 10 or fewer.
Cavanaugh finished the game just two points shy of 1,600 for her career, while surpassing Sam Clark ('16) for eighth in career field goals, ending the day with 525.
Fordham returns to action back in the Bronx this Thursday, February 13, at 7 p.m. against Davidson. ESPN+ and WFUV 90.7 FM will have the coverage.
