Bronx, N.Y. – Continuing on with our celebration of the 50
th anniversary of Fordham women's basketball is the release of the program's All-Decade Team for the 1990's. Previously, the
decorated 1970's and
high-scoring 1980's teams was announced. The 1990's saw the program's first conference regular season championship, conference title, and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Women's Basketball and Fordham University will be celebrating the program's 50
th anniversary all season long. To help mark this historic year and to support the program going forward, consider
making a donation today! Our goal is to reach 237 donors to celebrate the number of women who have donned the maroon & white!
Making the transition right at the turn of the decade from the MAAC to the Patriot League, the Rams found immediate success, going 9-3 in that initial year and reaching the conference championship game in each of the next four years under Christina Wielgus and Kevin Morris, with each head coach seeing a regular season and conference championship and a Coach of the Year honor. However, there was no NCAA Tournament berth following the 21-8 1991-92 season that featured four of the five members of the All-Decade team. Morris took over in 1993 with the Rams losing all but one of the aforementioned four, but the addition of Irish international and Fordham Hall of Famer Suzanne Maguire, plus the performances of several others, made up for the losses and then some as Fordham made its first NCAA appearance, falling to perennial powerhouse Penn State in the opening round.
*All records and statistics are based off what information Fordham Sports Information have gathered over the years. If anyone should be able to fill in some of the blanks, please do not hesitate to reach out to our offices.
Fordham Women's Basketball 1990's All-Decade Team
Cami Cass ('92) – Burst onto the scene with an All-Rookie nod in Fordham's final year in the MAAC in 1988-89, immediately playing big minutes and leading the team steals (53) and handing out 125 assists as a freshman. During the year, she matched the school record for steals in a game, with eight, on the road at Butler, doing so again fittingly in one of her final regular season contests as a senior, against Holy Cross. Cass led the Rams each of the next three years in both categories and finished her career as the program's second all-time leader in assists, with 487, behind only Hall of Famer Mary Hayes, and, at the time, as the school's all-time leader in steals, with 188, though she would be passed soon after by her teammate, Denise Hammersley. Cass is the only Ram to ever record over 11 assists in a single game since 1980, tallying 15 against Bucknell in February 1991 as a junior, and is one of two players in the modern era to record a double-double with assists, doing so twice.
Heather Donlon – The most dangerous three-point shooter in program history, Donlon showed up in the Bronx as a freshman in 1989 and set a NCAA record that still stands to this day – hitting 57.5% of her long-range attempts (50-of-87), while earning MAAC All-Rookie honors. Donlon took a slight step back, shooting 39.8% on 118 attempts as a sophomore, but led the Patriot League in shooting each of her final two years, draining 45.5% of a combined 299 attempts each of the next two seasons. She is the only Ram to shoot above 40.0% for her career, with the minimum needed attempts, doing so far and away with a 46.2% career clip. Her senior year, Donlon set the program benchmark with 93 made threes, doing so at an otherworldly 47.0% rate, being named Second Team All-Conference as a result. A secondary distributor, Donlon handed out 67 assists as a freshman and then between 97 and 99 each of her final three years, finishing her career with 359, currently ranked seventh all-time. The Northbrook, Ill. native ended her career with 1,121 career points and a 9.7 per-game average.
Denise Hammersley – After playing behind Cass her freshman year, appearing in all 29 contests but averaging 16.5 minutes, Hammersley exploded over the next three campaigns, scoring 1,176 points over that span with at least 111 assists and 65 steals in each. She still holds two distinct single-game school records – nine made three-pointers against Lafayette in January 1994, and a perfect 16-of-16 performance from the free-throw line against Lafayette again the following year, also the second-most makes in a single contest. All told, the North Bellmore, N.Y. native finished her career in maroon and white as the program's far and away all-time leader in games played, with 146, 14 more than
Samantha Clark, and the all-time steals leader, with 232. She is also the eighth all-time leading scorer, with 1,331 points, fourth with 409 assists, fourth with 212 made threes, seventh with 283 made free throws, and eighth with a career 35.5% rate from behind the arc. Hammersley earned All-Conference all four seasons – All-Rookie, two Second Team, and one First Team, in 1994.
Suzanne Maguire – Maguire, a 2017 Fordham Hall of Fame inductee, arrived in the Bronx in 1993 and earned All-Rookie honors after starting all 30 contests and averaging 8.8 points. The Dublin native missed just one contest in her career and started each of the 112 she was available for and finished her career with 1,475 points, currently sixth all-time, and a 13.2 per-game average. Maguire was a First Team selection in the school's final year in the Patriot League and the jump in competition proved not much difficulty for her, garnering Third Team honors as a junior and Second Team a senior, averaging 14.9 and 16.1 points, respectively, her final two campaigns, while leading her teams in most statistical categories. Maguire is the school's sixth-leading rebounder, with 737, sixth-leading three-point shooter, with 200 (seventh in percentage with a 35.7% mark), is seventh with 171 steals, eighth with 529 field goals, eighth in minutes played, at 3,702, joint-10
th with 78 blocks, and 10
th with a career 6.6 rebounding average.
Nicole Williams – An imposing force in the paint, Williams was a four-time All-Conference selection in two conferences, as well, earning All-Rookie and Second Team with the MAAC and two straight First Team nods in the Patriot League, being named the Preseason Player of the Year heading into her senior campaign, though she was unable to take home the accolade despite average 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds. The Stratford, N.J. native finished her career with 1,422 points, currently seventh all-time, and a 12.5 per-game average, with 910 rebounds and an 8.0 rate, both fourth all-time. Her 51.9% field goal percentage ranks fifth all-time, her 570 field goals rank sixth, and her 282 free throws sit eighth. Against Iona her sophomore year, Williams became the first and only Ram to attempt over 10 field goals and make every one of them, going 11-of-11 from the field that day. Her 58.7% field goal percentage her junior year is tops among Rams not named Anne Gregory or Terri Vaccarino, and her 31-point performance on 15 made field goals remains one of the program's best efforts in a conference tournament contest, doing so in the quarterfinals against Bucknell.
Honorable Mention
Kelly Fitzpatrick ('94) – Limited to 40 games her first to years in the Bronx, Fitzpatrick came alive during the 1993-94 campaign to help lead Fordham to a second Patriot League title and that first NCAA Tournament appearance, earning MVP honors at the conference tournament and Second Team All-Conference following the season. That year, Fitzpatrick started all 30 games and nearly averaged a double-double of 11.3 points and 9.1 rebounds. Her senior year, she started all 29 games and averaged a symmetrical 8.8 points and rebounds, garnering Second Team honors for a second straight year.
Christie Kennedy ('92) – Very narrowly missed joining the team proper, Kennedy was the 1989 MAAC Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Conference member in the Patriot League, being named the 1992 Tournament MVP as the Rams took home their first championship. Outside of a down sophomore year, Kennedy averaged double-digit points per game and started in 81 of 107 career contests, scoring 1,123 career points, currently ranked 18
th all-time. That 1991-92 season was huge for the Rams as the senior averaged 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds with 84 assists and 39 steals across 31.6 minutes per contest.
Stacey Paukovitz ('93) – A 1,000-point scorer, Paukovitz was instrumental in Fordham's two runs to the Patriot League championship games in 1991-93, specifically during her senior year when she averaged 13.3 points per contest over nearly 1,000 minutes, starting all 29 contests. That year, she did a bit of everything with 7.6 rebounds, 96 assists, 43 steals, and 10 blocks, while shooting 40.8% from the floor. As a result, she earned Second Team All-Conference honors following the campaign and was named to the All-Tournament team, the lone Fordham representative that year.
Kelly Roche ('93) – Arguably the program's most fearsome interior defensive presence, Roche set the school record for blocks as a junior, with 66, then shattered that as a senior with 95, leading the Patriot League both years. After limited playing time her first two seasons, she came alive her final two campaigns to help the Rams to two straight championship games, shooting 53.2% as a junior and starting all 29 contests as a senior with 10.8 points on 50.5% shooting plus 7.8 rebounds. She is the school's second-leading shot blocker, behind just Anne Gregory, with 174 for her career, and is eighth all-time with a 51.4% career field goal percentage. Roche's finest game in a Rams uniform came against then-conference foe Navy in February 1992 when Roche triple-doubled with a massive 17-point, 17-rebound, 10-block effort.
