Women's Basketball Hosts Rhode Island Sunday Afternoon

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Game Notes
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Rams (9-3, 6-2) saw both originally scheduled road contests postponed this weekend but were able to pick up a critical second meeting with the second-place Rams of Rhode Island (8-5, 8-2) this Sunday at home at 2 p.m. ESPN+ and WFUV will carry live coverage.
 
50^th Anniversary
This campaign is the 50^th varsity season for the Fordham women's basketball program and Fordham Athletics will be celebrating all five decades throughout the year! See this release for more information. To mark this historic year and to support the program going forward, please consider making a donation today! Our goal is to reach 237 donors to celebrate the number of women who have donned the maroon & white!
 
Also check out the influential 1970's All-Decade Team, the high-scoring 1980's All-Decade Team and the recently announced 1990's All-Decade Team, which made it to four straight Patriot League title games, winning two.
 
Fordham WBB Virtual Gameday Experience
With the unfortunate reality that our RAMily won't be allowed to be there live in the Rose Hill Gym or supporting us on the road for the foreseeable future, Fordham Athletics is proud to announce virtual gameday experiences for select contests, home and away! Read all about it and register HERE.
 
We have had a big turnout for our first four Virtual Gamedays (with the team winning all four games, too!) and our fifth and sixth will be next weekend! Make sure to register at the link above to participate!
 
Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
Every year, Fordham women's basketball teams up with the Go4theGoal foundation to raise funds and awareness for kids battling cancer in our communities. The Rams do this by wearing yellow laces for their game against Saint Joseph's on February 12^th, although several girls wear the laces for more than one game each year. All funds raised will be used to improve the lives of kids battling cancer by providing financial assistance, funding innovative research, developing and implementing unique hospital programs, and granting personal wishes. Fans can support a great cause and make donations at this link.
 
Play4Kay
Every year in February, women's basketball teams across the country don pink to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research and to celebrate those who survive with or have lost their lives to the disease. Fordham will wear pink uniforms for every home contest this month. Please consider making a donation to help those in need.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham outscored Davidson 40-21 in the middle periods last Sunday to avenge an earlier loss in the season to the Wildcats. Anna DeWolfe matched her conference career-high of 27 points, while Kendell Heremaia earned her second straight A-10 Player of the Week honor with a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, plus a team-high four assists and three steals. Read all about it HERE.
 
Series History vs. Rhode Island
The Rams will look to complete the season sweep of their rival Rams on Sunday after winning on the road, 65-58, a month ago. Fordham now holds a 21-19 advantage over Rhody since 1981, with all but two contests coming since it joined the Atlantic 10 in 1996. The (host) Rams have won 12-of-13 contests in the past 10 years and seven straight.
 
Heremaia Defends Her A-10 Player of the Week Crown
The Whangarei, New Zealand native picked up her third career weekly honor from the league this past week after the aforementioned double-double in a critical contest. Read about her weekend and season here.
 
Three's Company
For the first time in the Atlantic 10 era, the Rams have had three different players named the conference player of the week - Downey and Heremaia each twice and DeWolfe once. During the 1991-92 season in the Patriot League, the Rams had four different players earn Player of the Week: Nicole Williams (twice), Christie Kennedy, Kelly Roche, and Sue Moser.
 
Hungry Like DeWolfe
Sophomore captain Anna DeWolfe is 10th in all of Division I in scoring with 23.2 points per game, one of three underclassmen inside the top-10. The Cumberland, Maine native has recorded games of 20 or more points 10 times, including a career-high 34 points against Hofstra, crossing the 600-point threshold for her career at UMass. She continues to impress for the Rams ever since her collegiate debut - nearly triple-doubling against #16 Notre Dame in last year's season opener (10 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) in front of a record sold out Rose Hill Gym.
 
DeWolfe is shooting 44.2% from the floor and 39.3% from deep and leads the team with 40 assists and 17 steals. A three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week honoree and a member of the All-Rookie team, she was named to the preseason Third Team this Fall by the league's coaches. DeWolfe led all freshmen nationally last year with 1,152 minutes played, ranked 13th overall, and is above that this year, 4th among her peers this year with 38.4 minutes per contest.
 
Chairwomen of the Boards
Fordham has been beastly on the boards this year, averaging 40.0 per contest and with the 13th-highest rebounding margin in the country (10.8), holding opponents to just 29.3 boards. The Rams have grabbed 151-of-480 rebounds on the offensive glass, or 31.5%, and have six players with at least 10 offensive boards, led by junior Megan Jonassen's 46 (out of 87 total). She is joined by Kaitlyn Downey (21), Matilda Flood (18), Katie McLoughlin (18), Sarah Karpell (13), and Kendell Heremaia (10). Downey is 25th in the country with 10.8 rebounds per game and fourth overall with 9.0 defensive boards per game, while Jonassen is 25th with 3.8 o-boards per game. For their careers, Jonassen (159-of-289) and McLoughlin (32-of-57) have more offensive rebounds than defensive.
 
Lucky Number Seven
Senior Kendell Heremaia has racked up 898 points, 587 rebounds, 232 assists, and 102 steals during her Fordham career to-date. That puts her in some illustrious company among Rams that have reached the 800-point, 500-rebound, 200-assist, 100-steal plateaus. Only six others have done it, 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 fewest points but the second-most assists and the fourth-most rebounds already.
 
Kene From Distance
Heremaia is also climbing up the all-time three-point shooting categories at Fordham, entering the all-time top-10 for makes and percentage. Against UMass, the New Zealand international became the 10th Ram to reach 150 career three-pointers, now up to ninth with 158, but recently fell just outside the top-10 with a 35.1% rate from behind the arc. She could potentially join the top-10 for career rebounds, too, as she is 116 away from passing Abigail Corning.
 
Nationally Speaking (as of 1/29)
Per-game statistics take on even more significance this year during the ongoing pandemic. That said, the Rams are 13th in the country in rebounding margin (+10.8), 18th in scoring defense (55.3), 9th in three-point percentage (38.9%), 14th in threes per game (9.3), and 50th with 112 long-range makes. They are also 34th with just 14.8 fouls committed per game, 94th with a 0.95 assist/turnover ratio, 95th with a 72.4% free-throw rate, and 99th with 14.8 turnovers per game.
 
At the individual level, DeWolfe's 23.2 points per game ranks 10th in the country. She is 37th in attempts (233), 51st in makes (103), and 4th in minutes played (38.4). Downey is 4th in the nation with 9.0 defensive rebounds per game and 25th with 10.8 overall per contest. Megan Jonassen is 29th overall and second in the A-10 with 3.8 offensive rebounds per game, as well.
 
Deeper Dive Into Games Won
In nine wins so far this year, the Rams are outscoring opponents 66.3-51.3, a whopping 15.0-point disparity. Fordham is shooting 43.3% from the floor as a group and 40.7% from behind the arc, while holding opponents to marks of 35.1% and 29.9%, respectively. On the glass, Fordham has a 39.0-28.1 advantage. Anna DeWolfe leads the way with 24.7 points on 47.7% shooting overall and 42.4% from downtown, with a team-high 35 assists and 14 steals. Kendell Heremaia and Kaitlyn Downey are combining for 24.8 points, 19.6 rebounds, 55 assists, 16 steals, and nine blocks, while Megan Jonassen is chipping in 5.6 points and 5.9 rebounds. Four Rams are shooting 45.3% or better from distance and forwards Jonassen and Nyborg are a combined 26-of-50 from the floor (52.0%).
 
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 118-32 (78.7%) record at home across 150 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 62-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 30-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. A 15-game win streak ended earlier this season against Davidson but the Rams have rattled off four straight.
 
Downey Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Again
Downey picked up the second weekly honor of her career on Monday after posting a massive 24-point, 13-rebound double-double with five assists and a steal over 35 minutes at Saint Louis on Sunday. Earlier in the year, the junior captain was the season's first award winner after a 16-point, 20-rebound double-double at Stony Brook. The 20 boards were tied for the seventh-most in a road or neutral contest and joint-11th in any game, while she became just the seventh Ram to ever reach 20 rebounds in a game.
 
DeWolfe Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Anna DeWolfe was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week during halftime of the Davidson game, the first time she's won the honor in her career. She earned it by scoring a career-high 34 points against Hofstra on December 18. She was also named this season's first Metropolitan Player of the Week on January 12^th after scoring 48 combined points at Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
 
Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
The Rams were predicted to finish in a tie for fourth in the annual A-10 preseason coaches poll. On the individual side, senior Kendell Heremaia was predicted to improve from last year's Third Team All-Conference selection to this year's Second Team, while sophomore captain Anna DeWolfe was viewed the same way, but from the All-Rookie team to the Third Team.
 
Class of 2025
Head coach Stephanie Gaitley announced her four-player 2021 recruiting class last month, saying "we are super excited about this class… we really believe this group could leave a special mark on our program." The class is comprised of 5'10 guard Colleen McQuillen (Cresskill, N.J.), 6'2 forward Millie Prior (New South Wales, Australia), 5'9 guard Sophia Sabino (Rumson, N.J.), and 5'10 guard Lexie Tarul (Bronx, N.Y.).
 
Up Next
Fordham remains at home to host Saint Joseph's and La Salle next weekend. Friday's contest,  which starts at noon, will be carried by NBC Sports Network. Sunday's game tips off at 2 p.m.