Women's Basketball Earns At-Large WNIT Bid, Will Play in Charlotte Regional

Tournament Central | 2021 WNIT Bracket
 
Fort Collins, Colo. – The Fordham women's basketball team's 2020-21 campaign continues; The Rams were selected as one of 23 At-Large bids for the 32-school WNIT to be held later this week at four regional sites. The four regional champions will advance to Memphis, Tenn. for the final two rounds. Every game will be streamed through FloHoops.
 
"I'm super proud and super excited for this team to continue this season's journey." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "This senior class has been in the postseason every year and has raised the bar for all the classes to follow them. We have overcome so much adversity this year and we were rewarded for our body of work. We look forward to the challenge ahead!"
 
Fordham will play in the Charlotte Region and will kick the games off on Friday, March 19, against Delaware at 11 a.m. A win would pit them against the winner of Ohio and Clemson on Saturday at 5 p.m., while a loss would see them play the loser on Saturday at 11 a.m. Fordham is joined in Charlotte with quarterfinal opponent Massachusetts; Atlantic 10 foes Dayton and Saint Louis are in the Rockford, Ill. Region.
 
This is the fifth WNIT berth for the Rams in their history, all under Coach Gaitley, the first coming in 2013, though the team was expected to compete in last year's iteration, which was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is the seventh total postseason berth since her hire, which includes two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In all four previous WNIT appearances, the Rams have won at least one game and made two trips to the third round, most recently in 2018 at Virginia Tech after wins over Harvard at home and at Drexel.
 
The Rams have had 13 cancelled or postponed contests this season and finished the regular season with a 12-3 overall record and 8-2 mark in Atlantic 10 play, earning the second seed in this past weekend's Championship. Fordham fell against the seventh-seeded Minutewomen, however, in the quarterfinals.
 
Two days prior, sophomore captain was named the league's Co-Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and earned an All-Academic nod, as well, after leading the A-10 in scoring. Senior Kendell Heremaia was named to the Second Team, while junior captain Kaitlyn Downey was selected for the Third Team and All-Academic team. It's the first time in the A-10 era (since 1995) that the Rams have had three players earn All-Conference honors and just the third time with two student-athletes on the All-Academic team all-time.
 
The Rams boast the 15^th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 54.8 points per game. They are also 19^th in the country with a team-wide 36.8% long-range shooting percentage and is 21^st with 8.6 threes per game, plus the 17^th-best rebounding margin in the nation at 8.6.