South Orange, N.J. – Fordham women's basketball withstood a third-quarter charge by Seton Hall to hold onto its lead and eventually cruising to an 82-63 win on Saturday inside Walsh Gymnasium. Midway through the fourth quarter, graduate
Kendell Heremaia hit her seventh three-pointer of the game, of eight total, to surpass 1,000 points for her career. With the win, the Rams have begun the season 2-0, while the Pirates fall to 1-1.
"This is a special team. Someone different can step up every game." Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "I'm super happy for Kendell having a terrific game and scoring her 1,000
th point in a great road win against a really good Seton Hall team. This schedule really presents many challenges and we are going to attack it one game at a time."
After shooting just 2-of-13 in Tuesday's season opener, Heremaia exploded out of the gates, hitting her first three-point attempts and ultimately finishing with the second-most triples in a single game in program history, sinking 8-of-11 from long distance. Hannah Missry hit eight against Delaware State in 2015 but Denise Hammersley holds the record with nine in 1994. Heremaia sat out several minutes in the second half with an injury but returned to the court and sank two consecutive threes, the second pushing her into the 1,000-point club at Fordham, something only 22 others have done. She is also the 13
th New Zealand international to cross the threshold in Division I history, joining former Ram Erin Rooney. Heremaia finished with 29 points, matching her career-high, on 9-of-14 overall shooting, while adding seven rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block over just 30 minutes of action.
Senior transfer
Asiah Dingle continued her torrid start to the season, posting a huge 18-point, 13-reboun double-double with four more steals and three assists, with just one turnover, across 39 minutes, shooting an efficient 7-of-13 from the floor.
Anna DeWolfe added 16 points and three dimes,
Maranda Nyborg notched seven points, two steals, and a block in 12 minutes, and
Megan Jonassen, making her first start and appearance of the season, scored six points with five boards, a steal, and a block over 17 minutes.
Fordham won the battle of the glass, 30-28, with offensive rebounds coming into play in a big way, hauling in 14 on the offensive end, which led to 15 second-chance points. Fordham also racked up 11 steals which led to 15 points.
Heremaia sank the Rams' first points of the game, setting the tone for her performance. Seton Hall led early, leading 7-3 after three minutes. Dingle's first steal of the game led to a Jonassen layup and it was DeWolfe moments later with a jumper and then a free throw to give Fordham a lead it would hold for much of the first half. The Pirates would retake the lead following a three-point play by Lauren Park-Lane and a three by Andra Espinoza-Hunter. It took a Dingle freebie and, fittingly, another Heremaia trey to give the Rams the lead back, which they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
The Rams went on a 20-4 run during the middle portion of the second period and ultimately took a 42-29 lead into the break. The Rams ended the half in emphatic fashion, Dingle pickpocketing Sidney Cooks and laying it up on the other end, and Heremaia blocking Mya Jackson's last-second three attempt.
The two schools traded blows to begin the third but the Pirates went on a lengthy run to get within two, 51-49, that capped a 12-1 run. Dingle provided some cushion with a jumper and Nyborg came up big with an and-one opportunity that the sophomore converted. A late DeWolfe jumper had Fordham up six heading to the fourth, 58-52.
The team's lone sophomores combined for the fourth quarter's first points when Nyborg stole the ball from Espinoza-Hunter and
Matilda Flood ended up with a layup on the other end, forcing Seton Hall into an early timeout that meant no media timeout for the rest of regulation. The closes Seton Hall came from that point on was following two straight baskets to make it a nine-point game. Heremaia's hot shooting, plus DeWolfe and Dingle, saw the game reach nearly 20 points by the final buzzer.
With the win, the Rams have now started the season with victories over the predicted MAAC champion and the predicted Big East third-place squad, the latter of whom received votes in the WBCA national preseason coaches' poll.
Fordham remains on the road this coming Thursday for a trip to RV/RV Notre Dame. Tip-off from Purcell Pavilion is slated for 7 p.m.
