Women's Basketball Hosts Princeton on Sunday

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Bronx, N.Y. – TThe Rams (5-3) returned to the Bronx and to the win column with Thursday's 71-59 win over Stony Brook. Fordham now sets its sights on Princeton (6-1) for a Sunday matinee. Tip-off from the Rose Hill Gym is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham shook off several Stony Brook rallies to lead for the final 33 minutes of Thursday's 12-point victory over the predicted America East champions. The Rams were very efficient on the night, shooting 50.8% overall, the team's first game making over half of their shots since last December, though the offense did struggle behind the arc (31.6%) and from the line (45.5%). Fordham took the lead for good at 14-12 late in the first quarter although the visitors were able to rally on three occasions after the Rams had built up a double-digit advantage and get within one or two possessions. Each time, Fordham responded with a clutch basket that started a run.
 
Anna DeWolfe led the squad with a season-high 28 points, matching her career-high of 11 field goals on 18 attempts, including 4-of-7 shooting from distance, while adding a team-high five assists, plus three steals and a block over all 40 minutes. Kaitlyn Downey posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double with a pair of blocks and assists, while Asiah Dingle contributed 12 points, six boards, four assists, and four steals. Off the bench, Maranda Nyborg scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter and Matilda Flood handed out a personal-best three assists.
 
Series History with Princeton
The Tigers hold a 7-4 all-time advantage over the Rams since 1979. That record is 3-3 inside the Rose Hill Gym, including the most recent meeting, a 57-55 Fordham win on December 10, 2016.
 
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 66.0% of the team's scoring on a combined 40.1% 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 922 points for her career with an average of 15.7 over her first 58 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 had struggled a bit with her percentages before Thursday night's efficient effort, now shooting 40.6% overall, 29.6% from distance, and 73.3% from the line. She leads the team in scoring with 17.9 per game and 22 assists and is second with 12 steals. She is also playing 39.1 minutes per game, ranked fourth in the nation.
 
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.
 
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 eight games, she leads the team in rebounding, assists, and steals, while also second in scoring.
 
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, the second-most triples in a game in program history. 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 1,058 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, Michigan State, and Stony Brook, 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 eight games, Fordham is averaging 33.8 boards per game with a whopping 94 offensive rebounds out of 270 (34.8%). Asiah Dingle leads the way with 22 o-boards with Jonassen (18) 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 74th in free-throw percentage (.747), 59th in three-point attempts (165), and 88th in makes (47). Fordham is also 102nd in turnovers per game (15.2), 94th in turnover margin (3.00), and 72nd in assists (107).
 
At the individual level, Anna DeWolfe is fourth in the nation in both minutes played per game (39.1) and total minutes (313) and is also sixth in field-goal attempts (143) and 14th in makes (58). Asiah Dingle is 15th in steals (23) and 34th with 2.9 steals per game. The pair are 65th and 171st, respectively, in points per game. Again, it's early.
 
This Is Our House
Since Coach Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 123-33 (78.9%) record at home across 156 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 67-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 34-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. Fordham is currently riding eight 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 Manhattan on Wednesday night in the 52^nd Battle of the Bronx, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.