Women's Basketball Welcomes Lafayette To Rose Hill Sunday Afternoon

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Bronx, N.Y. – Three wins in three straight home contests during December's six-game homestand for the Rams (7-3) as they head into Sunday afternoon's meeting with Lafayette (3-5). Tip-off from the Rose Hill Gym is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.
 
Last Time Out
Wednesday's 52nd Battle of the Bronx went down to the final second, literally, with the Rams rallying from behind a fiery Manhattan performance and answering each of Dee Dee Davis' fourth-quarter baskets, with Sarah Karpell and Kaitlyn Downey doubling Davis on the game's final possession leading to a loose ball, a Kendell Heremaia scoop, and a last-second layup with under a second to play in regulation for a 65-63 victory, the team's third straight and 10th straight over their Bronx rivals, all under Coach Gaitley. Anna DeWolfe, despite being held scoreless in the fourth, finished with 27 points, while Heremaia finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points in her 100th career start. Downey provided 11 points and eight boards, while five of Megan Jonassen's seven rebounds came on the offensive end. DeWolfe added a team-high five assists and two steals, the latter number also matched by Karpell. Read all about it here.
 
Series History with Lafayette
The Rams hold a 12-6 all-time series advantage over the Leopards since 1984. A bulk of the rivalry came from when Fordham was in the Patriot League from 1991 to 1995. The Rams are 6-4 at home against Lafayette, including the most recent meeting - a 61-49 win in November, 2015.
 
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. All three already have one A-10 Player of the Week award in the first month of the season. Combined, they make up exactly two-thirds (66.7%) of the team's scoring on a combined 40.8% shooting overall. They are the real deal. For context for the uninitiated, 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 977 points for her career with an average of 16.3 over her first 60 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 shaken off a slow start by her standards this season and is now leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring (19.8 points per game) on 41.4% overall shooting, 34.2% from distance, and 82.6% from the line. She also leads the team with 30 assists and is second with 17 steals. Her 393 total minutes rank second nationally, her 39.3 per-game average ranks fourth, and her 19.8 points rank 26th.
 
Three-for-Four
Through four weeks of the 2021-22 season, the Rams already have three different 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 over wins against Quinnipiac and Seton Hall. The week after it was Kaitlyn Downey 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. Now it's Anna DeWolfe, who scored 28 points in back-to-back wins over Stony Brook and Princeton last week, with 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals.
 
Dingle All the Way
The 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 nine contests, she leads the team in rebounding, assists, and steals, while also second in scoring. For her career across three schools, she has accumulated 1,163 points, an average of 12.9 per game, across 90 appearances and 73 starts. She is a 42.1% career shooting with 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
 
Kendell Here-oh-my!
Kendell Heremaia became the 23rd Ram to reach 1,000 points for her career, doing so at Seton Hall in the second game of this season, matching her career-high of 29 points and shooting a blistering 8-of-11 from behind the arc, just one off the single-game program record. The New Zealand international has since ascended to 20th all-time with 1,088 career points and is currently seventh all-time with 185 made three-pointers, with Suzanne Maguire ('97) next at 200.
 
Heremaia has racked up 1,088 points, 689 rebounds, 280 assists, and 120 steals over 127 career appearances and 100 starts. Only six other Rams have reached the 1,000-point, 500-rebound, 200-assist, 100-steal plateaus, most recently Samantha Clark ('16), but also featuring Becky Peters ('12) and Abigail Corning ('14) that have played under Coach Gaitley. Among that group, Heremaia has the second-fewest points and third-fewest rebounds and steals, but the second-most assists.
 
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. With wins over one top-25 team (Princeton) and four top-100 teams (Quinnipiac, Michigan State, Houston, Stony Brook), the Rams are 63rd in the initial NET rankings.
 
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 22nd in free-throw percentage (.780), 45th in three-point attempts (213), and 63rd in makes (64). Fordham is also 57th in total assists (137), 76th in turnovers per game (14.8), and 90th in turnover margin (3.1).
 
At the individual level, Anna DeWolfe is second in the nation in total minutes (393), behind only UMass' Sam Breen, and fourth in minutes played per game (39.3) and is also 24th in scoring (19.8), second in field-goal attempts (186) and sixth in makes (77), and is 27th with 25 made threes. Asiah Dingle is 18th in steals (27) and 45th with 2.7 steals per game, plus 50th in free throws made (36). Kaitlyn Downey is 80th with 13 blocks and Kendell Heremaia is 66th with her 86.2% free-throw percenatge. Again, it's early.
 
Deeper Dive Into Games Won
Through seven wins this season, the Rams are outscoring opponents 73.0 to 63.4 (+9.6). Fordham is shooting 42.8% from the floor and 33.1% from distance. The Rams are converting nearly half of their two-point attempts (47.8%). Fordham is outrebounding foes, 35.1 to 30.9, with 89 offensive boards out of 246 total (36.2%). Opponents are committing 18.3 turnovers per game with the Rams notching 9.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per contest.
 
Anna DeWolfe is leading the charge with 22.6 points per game on 45.6% shooting overall, 37.5% from deep, and 84.2% from the line, leading the squad with 26 assists. Asiah Dingle is averaging 16.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 steals, and 2.4 assists, while Kaitlyn Downey leads with 7.4 boards to go with 11.1 points, and Kendell Heremaia chips in 13.0 points and 6.4 boards. Seven Rams shoot 42.0% or better in wins so far, including four at 44.0% or better.
 
This Is Our House
Since Coach Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 125-33 (79.1%) record at home across 158 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 69-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 34-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. Fordham is currently riding 10 straight wins in the Bronx.
 
60 is the Magic Number?
Fordham is 75-11 over its last five seasons when scoring 60 points or more, including an 8-3 mark last year and 7-0 record to begin this season. The offense has been clicking so far for the Rams, with five of their seven wins coming with 70 or more points.
 
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 former associate head coach Angelika Szumilo and Fairleigh Dickinson next Sunday, December 19, at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.