Women's Basketball Hosts Michigan State on Sunday

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Rams (2-1) suffered their first loss of the year at RV/RV Notre Dame on Thursday night and now turn their sights on RV/RV Michigan State (4-0) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV have live coverage.
 
Whiteout!
Tomorrow's game is a WHITEOUT!! Fans are encourage to wear WHITE. There will be a limited number of t-shirts also at the entrance, so come out early!

Last Time Out
Outside of a 16-2 run by Notre Dame late in the first quarter, the game was completely even. Fordham led over the opening four minutes and the game was tied 7-7 but it was 23-9 after the opening period. The middle periods were tied 41-41 and the Rams were able to rally to cut he deficit to seven points in the fourth quarter but had picked up five team fouls and the Irish were able to see the contest out from the free-throw line.
 
Kaitlyn Downey scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half, a large part of the team's rally, with Asiah Dingle (14) and Anna DeWolfe (10) also finishing in double figures. Dingle led the team in rebounds (6), assists (3), and had four more steals, notching that number or more in every game thus far. The Irish shot 59.3% in the first half but the Fordham defense dropped that number every period and held the hosts to just 8-of-22 from the field in the second half (36.4%). Both teams grabbed 11 offensive rebounds but Notre Dame hauled in 20 more defensive rebounds. The Irish did commit 20 turnovers on the night to Fordham's 12.
 
Series History with Michigan State
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Fordham all-time against Big Ten opponents is 2-13, with wins over Indiana and Purdue.
 
Dingle All The Way
The 5'4 Boston native was a shoe-in for the year's first A-10 Player of the Week award, averaging 26.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.0 steals, and 3.0 assists over 39.5 minutes of two exciting wins to begin the campaign. Through three contests, she leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and field goal percentage.
 
Kene 1k
The New Zealand international struggled with her shot in the season opener, scoring just five points but Heremaia shook that off and then some last Saturday, canning her first two three-point attempts and riding that wave all the way through the game, finishing with 29 points to match her career-high while shooting 8-of-11 from distance. Her 1,000th point came in the fourth quarter after hitting two consecutive triples following time off the court due to a mild injury.
 
Kene From Distance
Heremaia's blistering 8-of-11 long-range performance at Seton Hall was nearly record-setting, finishing in a tie for second-most in a single game with Hannah Missry ('17), however the nine makes have pushed the graduate student into seventh all-time for threes with 179. Suzanne Maguire ('97) is next with 200.
 
Chairwomen of the Boards
Fordham was beastly on the boards last year, averaging 38.4 per contest and with the 22nd-highest rebounding margin in the country (7.6), holding opponents to just 30.8 boards. The Rams grabbed 213-of-691 rebounds on the offensive glass, or 30.8%, and had six players with at least 17 offensive boards. Downey was 35th in the country with 10.2 rebounds per game and 11th overall with 8.5 defensive boards per game, while Jonassen was 20th with 3.9 o-boards per game. Jonassen (186-of-329) has more offensive boards in her career than defensive.
 
It's early going in 2021-22, obviously, but through three games, Fordham is averaging 35.3 boards per game with a whopping 42 offensive rebounds out of 106 (39.6%). Millie Prior has 11 o-boards already, while Asiah Dingle has seven, Maranda Nyborg has six, and Kaitlyn Downey has five. Prior, Nyborg, Megan Jonassen (4), Sarah Karpell (3), and Matilda Flood (2), all have more offensive rebounds than defensive.
 
Gaitley's "Most Challenging" Nonconference Schedule Yet
Fordham women's basketball head coach Stephanie Gaitley has called this year's nonconference slate her "most challenging" of any of her teams in her career. The season has begun with a win over the predicted MAAC champions, Quinnipiac, and a road win over predicted third place Big East finisher, Seton Hall, one of six programs either ranked in at least one national preseason poll or receiving votes: Seton Hall and Houston received votes in the coaches poll, Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Florida Gulf Coast received votes in both, and Baylor was #7/8 to begin the year. Notre Dame and Baylor are former multi-time NCAA champions, as well. Not to mention PAC-12 contenders Arizona State, last year's America East champions, Stony Brook, and a Princeton team that, although hasn't played a game in two years, was the most recent Ivy League champions with a 26-1 overall record in 2019-20.
 
Nationally Speaking
It's early days this season but it's never TOO early to take a look at where Fordham stands among its' Division I peers. Still, the Rams are 57th nationally in steals per game (11.3),  41st in turnover margin (7.33), 55th in turnovers per game (13.7), and 92nd in threes per game (7.0),
 
At the individual level, Dingle is 18th in the nation in scoring (22.0), third in steals per game (4.7), and eighth in minutes (38.0), while DeWolfe is third in minutes (39.0). Heremaia, meanwhile, is 47th nationally with 3.0 threes per game. Again, it's early.
 
Preseason Poll
Fordham has been predicted to finish third in the annual Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll, totaling 163 points among the 14 head coaches, just behind Dayton (193) and Rhode Island (174). The Rams return four of their five starters and 91% of their scoring from a year ago, while adding senior transfer Asiah Dingle and Australian U19 international Millie Prior. Anna DeWolfe, the reigning Co-Player of the Year, was selected to the preseason All-Conference First Team, while Kendell Heremaia was named to the Second Team.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 121-33 (79.0%) record at home across 154 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 65-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 34-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. Fordham is currently riding six straight wins in the Bronx.
 
3 and D
Stephanie Gaitley's Rams have dominated the all-time top-10 for scoring defense, holding nine of the 10 spots with the 2008-09 squad holding the record with just 47.9 points allowed per game. Fordham was 31st nationally last season with 57.4 points allowed per game. Gaitley's Rams have held opponents under 50 points 91 times in 316 games (28.8%) and hold an 84-7 record in those contests.
 
Similarly, Gaitley's Rams are all over the top-10 for three-pointers made. In fact, they hold every spot in the top-seven, with the 2018-19 squad breaking the 2013-14 title-winning Rams' record by 23 (267 total). They also set the record for attempts with a whopping 826. Last year's team was on pace to finish sixth, shooting 36.8% as a group before the WNIT, but poor shooting in the final two games dropped them to 11th in program history at 35.0%.
 
Up Next
The Rams head to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge later this week. Fordham will take on #6/7 Baylor, NR/RV Houston, and Arizona State from November 25-27.