Dayton, Ohio – The Fordham women's basketball team fell to second-seeded VCU in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship, 60-55, on Saturday afternoon at UD Arena. With the loss, the Rams fall to 21-11 on the year.
"Tough loss; credit to VCU, they fought hard and we had some defensive breakdowns at key times." Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "I'm proud of our team and hope to use this to fuel us for postseason play."
Fordham was in the drivers seat for much of the contest, leading by as much as 17 midway through the third, but VCU began to see its shots fall and got 16 second-chance points thanks in part to 16 offensive rebounds, whittling the lead down and eventually usurping the Rams late.
The Rams held a 28-19 lead at the half after finishing on an 11-2 run, punctuated by threes from each of
Bre Cavanaugh,
Anna DeWolfe, and
Kendell Heremaia. VCU was forced into an early timeout just two minutes into second half following seven unanswered points by Fordham. At the media timeout with 4:25 to play in the frame, Fordham held a 38-22 lead and was holding VCU to just seven field goals. The momentum began to change out of that break as VCU got back within single digits with a 12-3 run to end the quarter.
The lead grew to 10 again following a
Kaitlyn Downey three and a Cavanaugh jumper, though Taya Robinson answered with a make as VCU called another timeout with 7:56 to play. Robinson and Danielle Hammond continued to make shots as their offense as a whole shot 50.0% in the frame and 9-of-11 from the line. A Robinson miss fell right to Nyra Williams, who found Robinson several moments later for just their second three-pointer of the contest, cutting the deficit to one, 52-51, with a minute to play. Downey was able to haul in Cavanaugh's miss but couldn't convert her free throws and Robinson put VCU ahead with a layup on the other end. Fordham got within one two more times, through a Jillings free throw and a Cavanaugh layup, but VCU hit all its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Playing in her 100
th career game at Fordham, Cavanaugh led the way offensively with 17 points, adding five rebounds and an assist over all 40 minutes. DeWolfe finished with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and Downey chipped in 13 with eight boards, two assists, and a block over 31 minutes. Heremaia chipped in across the board with five points, eight rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a steal, while
Sarah Karpell rounded out the starters with two points, two assists, and a steal. Jillings, also playing in her 100
th career game, netted one point and four boards.
Fordham outshot their opponents, 38.9% to 30.9%, including a 30.4% to 15.4% disparity from long range, but VCU hit 24-of-28 free-throw attempts, while the Rams made just 6-of-10.
The Rams will now look ahead to a potential fifth WNIT bid in the last eight years.
