Women's Basketball Advances to Atlantic 10 Semifinal with Seven-Point Win over Duquesne

Highlights | A-10 Championship Central (Highlights, Photos, Press Conference)

Dayton, Ohio – 10 days after giving up a season-high 74 points on the road, the Fordham women's basketball team avenged that loss at Duquesne by defeating the Dukes, 54-47, in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals on Friday night at UD Arena. The Rams advance to Saturday's semifinal against second-seeded VCU (19-11, 13-3) tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
 
"Great defensive effort against a talented Duquesne team," Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "The kids took great pride in our defense and it has led us to the semifinals."
 
A little more than one week ago, Duquesne shot an even 50.0% overall from the field en route to matching a season-high for a Fordham opponent. The Rams recorded similar percentages on offense in the rematch, but the defense, which has held opponents at 50 points or under in 12 contests this year, including three straight, kept the Dukes to just 32.8% from the field on Friday night and 20.0% from behind the arc (3-of-15), while winning all four quarters. Fordham shrugged off a Duquesne 8-0 run in the second quarter to retake the lead for good heading into halftime.
 
Kendell Heremaia kicked things off 80 seconds in with a layup following a nice feed from Kaitlyn Downey. The Rams stayed in front of the Dukes for most of the period but the Dukes kept clawing back. Bre Cavanaugh hit a pair of threes in the early going but the Dukes responded via Paige Cannon and Amanda Kalin, bringing the game tied once again each time. Anna DeWolfe, with a three, and Cavanaugh, pushed the lead to five, 13-8, but the offense was held off the board over the final three minutes while Laia Sole converted a three-point play with 30 seconds to play to get within two. Cavanaugh and Kalin traded jumpers in the first minute of the second and after that, the Rams fell cold from the field as the Dukes scored six more unanswered points to take a four-point lead. The Duquesne advantage lasted for four minutes and it was DeWolfe to spur Fordham ahead. The All-Rookie selection hit an unassisted jumper with 3:32 left in the half and, following an offensive rebound by Megan Jonassen, knocked down her second triple of the half, which eventually proved to be the game winner. The defense held the Dukes scoreless over the final 4:33 of the half and a pair of free throws by Cavanaugh and a Downey jumper brought it back to a five-point cushion at the intermission, 24-19.
 
Defense again reigned in the third as it took more than three minutes for either team to score to begin the second half. It was freshman Sarah Karpell who kicked things off with a layup, but Duquesne's Precious Johnson answered immediately on the other end with a midrange jumper. The Dukes would get the deficit to three twice more in the quarter, once through Kalin before the media timeout and again through Johnson late in the quarter, the latter coming with 40 seconds left. Downey came through with a clutch triple with nine seconds left on the clock to push the lead back to six, 35-29, heading to the final 10 minutes.
 
The lead never dipped below four the rest of the way. A Heremaia layup to start the period gave the Rams their second-largest lead of the night, eight, but a Sole steal led to a Libby Bazelak three. Bazelak hit another, her only two field goals of the night, in response to a DeWolfe layup to keep the lead to four, 39-35. The two schools traded baskets over the next several minutes leading to a Cavanaugh jumper with 3:40 to play, bringing it back to a six-point lead. Gaitley called a timeout with 2:15 to play following a Johnson offensive foul, putting Fordham in the bonus, with Cavanaugh converting both attempts to make it an eight-point game again. The senior made two further trips to the line, hitting all four attempts, before DeWolfe, who hit both, and Downey, who hit one, wrapped up the game, the latter giving the 'hosts' their largest lead of the game before Johnson scored with 10 seconds to play.
 
Cavanaugh recorded her fourth double-double of the year, doing so early in the second half, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds over all 40 minutes. That's the 14^th 20-point game for Cavanaugh since the start of conference play, including six straight, and the 12^th time she hasn't missed a minute in the same span. DeWolfe played 39 minutes and scored 14 points, while Downey chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a steal over 32 minutes. Heremaia matched Downey for the team lead with three dimes, adding six points, six rebounds, and a block. Jonassen grabbed four offensive rebounds out of five total over 13 minutes off the bench, while Karpell notched two points, two boards, an assist, and a block.
 
Fordham slightly outshot the Dukes, 33.3% to 32.8%, with neither team converting 25% of their three-point attempts. Fordham, who entered second in the country in free-throw shooting, hit 13-of-16 overall in the game. Duquesne won the rebounding battle, 40-37, but committed 13 turnovers to the Rams' nine.
 
Fordham and VCU tip off at 1:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and WFUVSports.org on Saturday.