Postgame Press Conference
Richmond, Va. – The Fordham women's basketball team fell, 80-70, to seventh-seeded Massachusetts in Friday's Atlantic Championship quarterfinal. The Rams, now 12-4 overall after finishing league play with an 8-2 record, will hope to earn a seventh postseason bid in the past nine seasons by going to their fifth WNIT next week.
"It's been a long month and it's always tough to lose something you work so hard for." Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "I am incredibly proud of this group and feel our body of work should put us in a great position for a postseason bid!"
Massachusetts' 22 first-quarter points were the most allowed in an opening frame this year by the Rams by five, but Fordham outdueled the Minutewomen, 18-12, in the second quarter to take a 37-34 lead into halftime, capping the half with a 14-5 run. The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half but UMass went ahead for good on a Sydney Taylor floater, 46-44.
The Rams started hot, with
Kaitlyn Downey and
Anna DeWolfe going back-to-back from distance to begin the game, but Taylor, who finished with a game-high 27 points and hit her first five three-point attempts, responded with one of her own. The Rams built their lead back to six on two different occasions, first through another DeWolfe triple and then on a
Katie McLoughlin layup, and were able to maintain a lead until the final minute when Taylor hit two threes, including one in the waning seconds.
Following a Angeliq Ngalakulondi fastbreak layup that made it 29-23, the Rams quickly turned the tide. McLoughlin found Jonassen down low for an easy layup and, following the media timeout, retook the lead following a DeWolfe layup and a McLoughlin three, both assisted by
Kendell Heremaia. The schools traded points from the free-throw line but Fordham finished strong over the final two minutes with five unanswered points on a DeWolfe three following a
Megan Jonassen offensive rebound, one of six for the junior, and a fastbreak Heremaia layup following a DeWolfe steal with seconds remaining.
McLoughlin hit back-to-back buckets early in the third, a jumper and a three, to make it a five-point game, 42-37, but the Minutewomen continued to push, tying things up with a Ber'Nyah Mayo steal and fastbreak bucket and three made freebies from Taylor after being fouled shooting behind the arc. Makennah White and Jonassen traded layups before Taylor's go-ahead basket with 4:50 to play in the game. A DeWolfe trey and Jonassen free throws kept it within three points but a Sam Breen three with two minutes left, four misses by the Rams, and a last-second fastbreak Taylor layup pushed the deficit to seven, 57-50, heading to the final 10 minutes of action. UMass scored 23 points in the third and duplicated that in the fourth, outscoring the Rams in the final frame by three, to take the contest, never leading by fewer than three points the rest of the way.
DeWolfe finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-of-23 shooting and produced a career-high four steals in 38 minutes of action.
Kaitlyn Downey and McLoughlin each chipped in 10 points, the former adding five rebounds and three assists, the latter four boards, two steals, and an assist, while Heremaia flirted with a triple-double with five points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, plus two blocks and a steal over 33 minutes. Jonassen hauled in six of her seven boards on the offensive glass to go with eight points and a steal, while
Vilisi Tavui matched her career-high of six points on 3-of-4 shooting off the bench.
Sarah Karpell and
Matilda Flood each netted three points off the bench.
The Minutewomen shot 46.7% from the field, including a 46.2% mark from downtown, and hit 18-of-22 free throws in the contest. The Rams were held to 37.5% overall shooting and 27.6% long-range shooting, converting 14-of-20 from the charity stripe. Fordham committed 15 turnovers to UMass's 16 but handed out 15 assists and tallied nine steals. The Rams' 64 overall attempts were tied for the second-most this season, while their 29 three-point attempts were third-most and steals joint-most. It was also the first time Fordham has been outrebounded this year, losing the battle of the glass, 40-37.
Stay tuned for further updates regarding a potential WNIT berth.
