Women's Basketball Welcomes Stony Brook to Rose Hill Thursday Night

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Rams (4-3) return to the Bronx to begin a six-game homestand throughout December starting with Thursday night's match-up against Stony Brook (7-0). Tip-off from the Rose Hill Gymnasium is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham went 1-2 in Cancun. The Rams led #6/8 Baylor by four at halftime but ultimately fell to the two-time national champs. The next day, they defeated Houston by 13, before finishing play with a loss to Arizona State.
 
For the week, Anna DeWolfe was named to the All-Cancun Challenge team after leading the way with 16.0 points, shooting 36.5% overall but 44.4% on her two-point attempts. DeWolfe led the team in rebounding in the Baylor and Arizona State games with seven. Asiah Dingle and Kendell Heremaia chipped in 9.7 and 9.0 points and 6.3 and 6.0 rebounds, respectively. Eight of Dingle's rebounds were on the offensive glass and the senior also led the way at the line by shooting 11-of-12. Megan Jonassen shot a team-high 44.4% from the floor with 4.0 boards, while Kaitlyn Downey led the way with 10 assists and four blocks.
 
Series History with Stony Brook
This will be the 11^th meeting between the two schools, one of Fordham's oldest active opponents. The two schools first met in 1971, a 28-26 victory for the Rams on the road. After four more meetings in the 70's, the two programs didn't match up against until the 21^st century, a 62-40 road win in 2002. Most recently, Fordham prevailed, 62-58, on Long Island in last November's season opener. In that game, current Ram led the Seawolves with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting with five boards, two assists, two blocks, and two steals over 37 minutes. India Pagan had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, as well. Anna DeWolfe, meanwhile, posted 25 points, while Kaitlyn Downey hauled in 20 rebounds to go with 16 points for an epic double-double.
 
Two-for-Two
Through the first two weeks of the 2021-22 season, the Rams had two Atlantic 10 Players of the Week. First it was Asiah Dingle after averaging 26.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.0 steals, and 3.0 assists, while shooting 60.0% from the field and 75.0% from the line over wins against Quinnipiac and Seton Hall. Then it was Kaitlyn Downey, who earned the honor for a third time in her career, after averaging 19.5 points at Notre Dame and against Michigan State, including a career-high-matching 24 points in the win over the Spartans. Downey added 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks, as well.
 
Triple D - DeWolfe, Dingle, Downey
Shut the front door! So far this season, the Fordham trio have been gnarly, righteous, dynamite, and, perhaps most importantly, the bomb-dot-com. DeWolfe is the reigning A-10 Co-Player of the Year and it's the other two who have won the year's first two A-10 Player of the Week awards. Combined, they make up 65.0% of the team's scoring on a combined 38.5% shooting overall. They are the real deal. For context, this entire blurb is related to Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
 
Hungry Like DeWolfe
Last year's Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year, junior captain Anna DeWolfe became the third Ram to average over 20 points per game in program history, finishing with 20.8 for the season, which ranked 22nd in the country, one of seven underclassmen in the top-25. The Cumberland, Maine native was also 25th in the nation with 37.3 minutes played per game and 29th with 2.7 threes per game. DeWolfe is up to 894 points for her career with an average of 15.7 over her first 57 contests at Fordham, all starts, beginning with her first collegiate game against #16 Notre Dame at home in front of a sold out Rose Hill Gym where she nearly triple-doubled (10 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) in a close five-point loss to the Irish. DeWolfe was a three-time Rookie of the Week and All-Rookie selection that year while leading all freshmen in minutes played (1,152).
 
DeWolfe has struggled a bit with her percentages so far this campaign, shooting 37.6% overall, 25.5% from distance, and 69.2% from the line, but still leads the team in scoring with 16.4 per game and is second with nine steals and third with 17 assists. She is also playing 39.0 minutes per game, ranked fifth in the nation.
 
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 seven contests, she leads the team in rebounding, steals, and field-goal percentage, while also second in scoring and assists.
 
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 at Seton Hall, 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. Heremaia has since ascended to 20th all-time with 1,050 career points.
 
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 eight makes pushed the graduate student into seventh all-time at Fordham, where she currently remains with 183 for her career. Suzanne Maguire ('97) is next with 200.
 
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. It features five predicted conference favorites (Quinnipiac, Baylor, Stony Brook, Princeton, Florida Gulf Coast), one runner-up (Manhattan), and three third-place finishers (Seton Hall, Michigan State, Houston), plus two NCAA champions (Baylor, Notre Dame), and six programs that received votes in at least one national preseason poll. So far, the Rams have defeated Quinnipiac, Seton Hall, and Michigan State, while leading #6/8 Baylor at halftime of an eventual loss.
 
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 seven games, Fordham is averaging 34.1 boards per game with a whopping 86 offensive rebounds out of 239 (36.0%). Asiah Dingle leads the way with 19 o-boards with Jonassen (17) and Millie Prior (15) each just behind her.
 
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 19th in free-throw percentage (.786), 62nd in three-point attempts (146), and 94th in makes (41). Fordham is also 103rd in turnovers per game (15.3), 108th in turnover margin (2.57), and 104th in assists (89).
 
At the individual level, Anna DeWolfe is fifth in the nation in minutes played per game (39.0) and sixth in total minutes (273) and is also sixth in field-goal attempts (125) and 26th in makes (47). Asiah Dingle is 25th in steals (19) and 56th with 2.71 steals per game. The pair are 110th and 148th, respectively, in points per game. Again, it's early.
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 122-33 (78.7%) record at home across 155 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 66-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 34-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. Fordham is currently riding seven straight wins in the Bronx.
 
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.
 
Up Next
The Rams host Princeton this Sunday, December 5, at 1 p.m.