Davidson, N.C. – What a difference a month makes. After allowing a season-high 79 points to the same team in mid-December, the Fordham women's basketball team reversed the result and dominated Davidson on Sunday afternoon, 73-55, setting a new season-high for points scored. With the win, their third straight, the Rams improve to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Wildcats fall to 6-7 and 3-4, respectively.
"Super effort on the road. We have a tough road stretch, every team is tough," Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "Great kick-off victory. Some great individual performances by Anna and Kendell. Makes it even better especially when you find out your flight is cancelled and you have to bus back into a snow storm!"
After a back-and-forth opening period that saw the hosts lead by one, 12-11, after the opening 10 minutes, Fordham used a big 17-8 second-quarter effort to create some separation heading into halftime, then cruised away with 23 points in the third quarter.
The Rams led for the majority of the opening 10 minutes, with sophomore guard
Anna DeWolfe kicking the game off with a three-pointer three minutes into the game and building their lead to 7-2 before the Wildcats responded with an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the contest. A pair of free throws from
Maranda Nyborg briefly retook the lead for the visitors but an offensive rebound and putback by Adelaide Fuller put the hosts up by one at the buzzer.
The lead lasted for 36 seconds and
Kendell Heremaia's floater proved to be the eventual game-winning basket in the game. Heremaia's bucket started a 9-0 run that led to Davidson calling timeout with 7:28 to play in the half, the final basket coming on a three by
Kaitlyn Downey. The lead shifted between four and eight points until
Megan Jonassen converted a buzzer beater of her own to end the half, mimicking Fuller with an offensive board and a putback, giving Fordham a 28-20 lead at the interval.
Downey kicked the second half off with a bang, draining from distance after a Heremaia offensive rebound. Three minutes later and
Katie McLoughlin's triple made it a double-digit difference the rest of the way. The lead grew to 20 to begin the fourth following a DeWolfe jumper. The lead ballooned to its largest, 28, on several occasions and DeWolfe scored her team's final 10 points to make it 73-45, before the Wildcats finished with 10 unanswered over the final three minutes.
DeWolfe led the way with 27 points, matching her career-high for in-conference contests, on 11-of-22 shooting, adding a pair of assists and steals over 38 minutes. Heremaia posted her second straight 20-point game, doing so on 8-of-14 shooting, and notching her ninth career double-double with 11 rebounds, also leading the team with four assists and three steals. Downey finished in double figures, as well, with 11 points to go with eight boards and two dimes, while McLoughlin chipped in six points, two rebounds, and two steals over 21 minutes. Nyborg finished with four points and five rebounds in eight minutes off the bench.
The Rams shot 45.0% from the floor, including 54.5% from inside the arc, and 10-of-13 free throws, while holding Davidson to 32.3% shooting. For the 12
th straight game, Fordham won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 42-34.
Fordham remains on the road for two more games next weekend, at Richmond and at VCU on Friday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m., respectively. Sunday's contest will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network with ESPN+ carrying coverage on Friday. WFUV will have both games, as always.
