Bronx, N.Y. – Two 1,000-point scorers in Fordham women's basketball history were honored on Sunday – graduate
Kendell Heremaia pregame in a ceremony for reaching the career milestone at Seton Hall earlier this season and junior
Anna DeWolfe early in the fourth quarter after crossing the same threshold with a patented midrange jumper. Around the two celebrations, the Rams defeated Lafayette, 71-36, holding the Leopards to the fifth-fewest points since 1976 in program history. With the win, Fordham improved to 8-3 on the year, while Lafayette fell to 4-6.
"Great overall win." Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "I saw lots of improvement on the defensive end. I'm really happy for Anna scoring her 1,000
th point – the first of many milestones! Now the team heads to their finals with two more games after to get ready for conference play!"
DeWolfe played a season-low 31 minutes, leaving the game shortly after her 1,001
st career point with the result assured, and finished with a game-high 24 points, her fourth straight 20-point effort, on an efficient 10-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Heremaia was the lone other Ram in double figures, scoring 18 on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-7 from distance and 3-of-4 from the line, with a team-high three steals over 30 minutes.
Asiah Dingle led the offense with four assists, plus two steals, while
Megan Jonassen hauled in six rebounds to go with her four points, all from the charity stripe.
Off the bench,
Maranda Nyborg contributed six points and a team-best two blocks over 16 minutes, while
Colleen McQuillen scored her first collegiate points, tallying five, including one three, with four rebounds, three offensive, and a block across a season-high 12 minutes.
Edona Thaqi notched a career-high three boards plus a block, while
Catherine Polisano handed out two dimes over six minutes.
Fordham led wire-to-wire. It took two and a half minutes for the game's first points – a Heremaia three – and shortly thereafter, the Rams led, 10-2, and finished the opening frame up eight, 12-4. Three straight three-pointers, one by
Kaitlyn Downey and back-to-back makes from DeWolfe, brought the lead into double digits, 21-9, and the Rams outscored the Leopards, 18-9, in the quarter, taking a 30-13 lead into the break after a last-second Jessica Booth floater. The Rams first cracked a 20-point advantage late in the third on a DeWolfe jumper and pushed into the 30's early in the fourth on DeWolfe's milestone-making jumper. The Rams closed out the game on a 9-0 run, capped by McQuillen's first career three.
Fordham shot a season-high 54.0% from the floor, including 10-of-23 from beyond the arc (43.5%), while holding Lafayette to 30.0% and 20.0%, respectively. The Rams outrebounded the Leopards, 30-21, while scoring 19 points off turnovers and 10 second-chance points.
The Rams next host Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday, December 19, at 2 p.m.
