Women's Basketball Faces Duquesne in A-10 Championship Quarterfinal on Friday Night

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team (20-10, 11-5) began its title defense by brushing past Saint Joseph's in its opening round game of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Championship on Tuesday night and now have a rematch with sixth-seeded Duquesne (20-10, 9-7) in Friday's quarterfinals  in Dayton. Tip-off from UD Arena is set for 7 p.m. with a semifinal match-up with either #2 VCU or #4 Davidson on the line.
 
A-10's Best and Brightest
On Thursday, the Atlantic 10 released its year-end awards and Fordham got its first-ever Player of the Year in redshirt junior Bre Cavanaugh, who also earned her second straight First Team All-Conference honor. Joining her was Kendell Heremaia on the Third Team, Anna DeWolfe as an All-Rookie selection, and Zara Jillings with an All-Academic nod. Read more about the quartet 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 did the same at home against Dayton, 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 wore its pink jerseys in five games in February, posting a 5-0 record, in honor of breast cancer awareness. To pledge, fans can find their team on the leaderboard 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 rebounded from a road defeat at Duquesne in midweek by blowing past Saint Joseph's, 67-45, on Saturday, behind a 30-point effort from Bre Cavanaugh and 17 total steals, tied for second-most in program history. Cavanaugh got off to a scorching start, hitting her first five field-goal attempts over the opening five minutes to score the team's first 12 points. Both teams shot over 60% in the first quarter with the Rams finishing with a slim 22-20 advantage, but the hosts' defense locked in after that, allowing just 25 combined points, including four in the second period, which led to a 37-24 halftime lead. Saint Joseph's final lead came late in the first on a Gabby Smalls layup, but the Fordham freshman duo of Anna DeWolfe and Sarah Karpell combined to tie and then put the Rams ahead for good. Karpell and DeWolfe stripped Nailah Delinois on back-to-back possessions and coasted in for fastbreak layups, the latter proving to be the difference in the game. The lead never dropped below 10 points and ballooned to as much as 18 in the third and 23 in the fourth.
 
Cavanaugh scored her 30 points on a super-efficient 12-of-18 shooting from the field, tying her career-high in makes, while adding a team-high seven rebounds, plus two assists, two steals, and a block over 36 minutes. DeWolfe enjoyed her 12th double-digit performance in league play, scoring 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting with three assists and three steals over a team-high 37 minutes. Kaitlyn Downey handed out a career-high eight assists, tied for the most by a Ram this season, and posted seven points, five rebounds, and four steals. Nine different Rams tallied at least one steal. Fordham shot an even 50.0% from the floor while forcing the Hawks into 24 turnovers. The Rams reestablished themselves as the A-10's top scoring defense, down to 55.7 points allowed per game.
 
Series History vs. Duquesne
The Dukes hold a 22-9 all-time series advantage since the Rams joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995-96. Fordham is 5-8 against them since Gaitley took over the program, but saw a four-game win streak snapped in Moon Township (due to ongoing construction at Duquesne's Palumbo Center) last Tuesday. Duquesne's 74 points matched a season-high by a Rams opponent with the 'hosts' winning a wild fourth quarter, 31-24. Bre Cavanaugh led the way with 23 points an nine rebounds, while Anna DeWolfe chipped in 19 points and Kendell Heremaia double-doubled with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the offense struggled, shooting 31.6% overall and 24.0% from behind the arc, while Duquesne converted on half of their attempts and 15-of-19 from the line. The Rams did commit a season-low four turnovers, though, tied for third-fewest all-time.
 
Cavanaugh Nabs Third A-10 Player of the Week Honor
The redshirt junior was named the league's Player of the Week on March 2, the third time she's garnered the recognition this year, seventh in her career, and it is her 11th award all-time including her four Rookie of the Week awards as a freshman. Cavanaugh capped off the regular season by averaging 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 steals over 38.0 minutes last week, including a season-high 30 points against Saint Joseph's on 12-of-18 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Busy Bre
Bre Cavanaugh has started all 98 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 1,745 career points, now fourth-most all-time. The Allamuchy, N.J. native has racked up 3,762 career minutes thus far out of a possible 3,950 (95.2%), 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 fifth with 205, is fourth with 390 free throws, sixth with an 84.2% career free-throw percentage, fifth with 575 field goals, and is third all-time with a 17.8 point-per-game average. She has been held to single digit scoring just nine times in her career and has 43 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 19.5 points per game, ranked 17th in Division I, and leads the conference with a 87.2% 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 11th-fewest free-throw attempts in the country (309), the Rams are converting at a 80.3% rate, good for 2nd in the nation and what would easily be a school record. William & Mary is first at 81.4%. Fordham is also committing just 11.7 turnovers per game (9th) and have a 1.07 assist-turnover ratio, which ranks 53rd. The Rams defense has normalized and has surged up to 15th overall and tops in the Atlantic 10 with 55.0 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 22nd-most attempts (713), hit the 47th-most (219), and are averaging 7.3 per game (64th).
 
It's no surprise to see Bre Cavanaugh near the top of the minutes-played category, ranking 5th in the country with 38.7 minutes played per game. Bre is also 6th in field goal attempts (516), 26th in free throws made (130), 21st in free-throw percentage (.872), and 29th in made field goals (196). Her 19.5 points per game rank 17th overall and 1st in the Atlantic 10. Kendell Heremaia's 7.9 rebounds per game ranks 147th overall and 3rd in the A-10. Anna DeWolfe is also 61st nationally with 35.8 minutes per game.
 
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 55.0 points per game, ranked 17th nationally and what would be fifth all-time in program history. Gaitley's Rams have held opponents under 50 points 85 times in 294 games (28.9%) and hold a 78-7 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 219 long-range makes, fourth-most in program history, and three behind 2016-17 for third. Their 713 attempts on the year is now second-most.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense
No stat better represents the Gaitley-infused defense than Fordham's 78-7 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. Tuesday's win over Saint Joseph's made it six straight.
 
Atlantic 10 Action
The Rams finished the regular season 11-5 in league play, outscoring opponents by 5.8, and having the second-best scoring defense (53.8 allowed). The Rams are shot 38.7% from the floor and 81.4% from the line, but struggled to just 28.3% makes from deep. Bre Cavanaugh has been scorching hot, averaging 21.6 points on 39.8% shooting and 89.2% from the charity stripe on 83 attempts. Kendell Heremaia's producing 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game, while Anna DeWolfe is averaging 12.3 points on a team-high 41.6% shooting among starters. The offense has been fantastic inside the arc (44.5%) but have struggled from long distance, converting just 28.3% attempts, while opponents shoot 30.6%. Still, the Rams are committing just 10.3 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 113-31 (78.5%) record at home across 144 contests. Over the last four seasons, the Rams are 57-11 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 27-5 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. After starting the year with two losses at home, Fordham rattled off 14 straight wins.
 
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 a win on Friday, the Rams will advance to the semifinals with a date against #2 VCU or #4 Davidson at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.