Women's Basketball Efficient in 71-59 Win over Stony Brook

Photo Gallery | Highlights
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball offense was clicking all night long against undefeated Stony Brook, led by junior captain Anna DeWolfe's efficient season-high 28 points, as the Rams handed the Seawolves their first loss of the campaign, 71-59, trailing just twice and leading for the final 33 minutes. With the win, Fordham improves to 5-3 overall, while Stony Brook falls to 7-1.
 
"It's great to be back home at Rose Hill." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "Stony Brook is picked to win the America East and was 7-0 coming into tonight. They were tough and well-coached. I'm proud of our kids stepping up – Anna with 28, Kaitlyn with a double-double, and Maranda with big minutes. It's important to protect home court!"
 
Down two of their top scorers, the Seawolves never backed down on Thursday, rallying several times to get within one or two possessions after the hosts had built up a double-digit lead. Fordham answered each time, though, with clutch baskets, racking up a big enough advantage to keep Stony Brook outside of striking distance.
 
The Seawolves high-tempo was on display early as Earlette Scott drilled a three within 10 seconds of regulation. Fordham responded with seven unanswered points through Kaitlyn Downey, Anna DeWolfe, and Megan Jonassen, but the visitors got back in front with a 6-1 run. That lead would be brief and their last of the game as moments later Kendell Heremaia drained a mid-range pull-up. A three-point play by Gigi Gonzalez, the first of three in the game for the team, tied the contest up, 12-12, with 3:26 to play, but it was Downey finding DeWolfe open down low with a bullet pass for the go-ahead bucket one possession later. By the end of the frame, Fordham held a seven-point lead, 21-14.
 
Fordham reached a double-figure margin for the first time just under three minutes into the second period with a Heremaia layup, making it 27-16. Following a Millie Prior layup with 3:45 to go in the half, the Seawolves rallied to get within three in short order, scoring seven unanswered in just under two minutes. Dingle answered by racing into the paint and finding space for a floater and, after a miss on each end, it was Dingle again doing the same to cap the scoring in the half and hand Fordham its seven-point lead back at the interval, 37-30.
 
A 9-2 run to start the second half by Stony Brook got within two, the run capped by three free-throw makes by Leighah-Amori Wool. The Seawolves continued to press but DeWolfe drilled two long-range bombs to keep them at bay. A Dingle strip and fastbreak lay-in with three minutes to go in the third sparked a 9-0 run to finish the third quarter. Again Stony Brook battled in the fourth, getting within four, 59-55, with 5:25 to play, but it was Downey this time with a critical make, hitting her second trey of the game and starting another 9-0 run that would prove to be enough to see the game out comfortably. The Seawolves got back to nine with just under a minute to play but a fourth DeWolfe three brought the house down and the game to a close.
 
DeWolfe matched her career-high of 11 field goals, doing so on 18 attempts, including 4-of-7 from distance and 2-of-2 from the line, to finish with a season-high 28 points, adding a team-high five assists plus three steals and her third career block over all 40 minutes. Downey posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double with a pair of assists and blocks over 30 minutes, while Dingle provided 12 points, six boards, four assists, and a team-high four steals across 37 minutes. Heremaia finished with eight points, five rebounds, two dimes, a steal, and a block, as well, and Maranda Nyborg scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter, adding three boards, a steal, and a block in 11 minutes off the bench. Also off the pine was Matilda Flood with a career-best three assists, also in 11 minutes.
 
Fordham shot a season-best 50.8% from the floor (30-for-59), 6-of-19 from behind the arc (31.6%), but just 5-of-11 from the line (45.5%). Fordham forced 21 turnovers but committed 15 of its own, while winning the rebounding battle by one, 31-30, with each team grabbing eight offensive boards. 30 of Fordham's 71 points came off of Stony Brook turnovers.
 
The Rams are back in action on Sunday against Princeton. Tip-off from the Bronx is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.