Women's Basketball Releases Nonconference Schedule

2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team has announced its 2021 out-of-conference schedule, comprised of eight home contests, two road games, including to Notre Dame, and participation in the three-game Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving break, featuring an opening fixture against 2019 national champion Baylor. No times outside of the Challenge have been finalized as of now.
 
"After a challenging year in which I was proud of our team both on and off the court, I felt this team deserves two opportunities to get to the NCAA Tournament – conference title or an At-Large bid – and scheduling determines your opportunities." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "This is by far the most challenging schedule one of my teams has ever faced. I feel our team is ready to embrace the opportunities ahead!"
 
There is no doubt about the challenges that await the Rams. Their opponents, of which four participated in last year's NCAA Tournament, have combined for double-digit conference championships in the past decade and a slew of postseason berths. See below for quick facts about each out-of-conference opponent Fordham will face this year.
 
The Rams kick off their 2021-22 campaign at home against Quinnipiac on November 9 before heading to the road for two games over five days – first at Seton Hall on November 13 and then at Notre Dame on November 18. Before heading to Cancun, the Rams will play one more home game – against Michigan State – on Sunday, November 21.
 
At the Cancun Challenge, Fordham will play some of the best programs in the country – beginning with Baylor on Thanksgiving, November 25, at 11 a.m. The next two days the Rams will play Houston and Arizona State at 1:30 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.
 
Once back stateside, the Rams will finish nonconference play with six straight home games. First up is a date with Stony Brook on December 2 and then Princeton on the 5^th. Next up is Manhattan on December 8 and Lafayette on December 12, before finishing up with former associate head coach Angelika Szumilo's Fairleigh Dickinson on December 18 and Florida Gulf Coast on December 29.
 
The Atlantic 10 will release its conference schedule later this month.
 
Fordham is coming off a 12-6 stop-and-start and shortened season due to COVID-19 issues, 8-2 in league play to earn the #2 seed at the Atlantic 10 Championship, and reached a fifth WNIT under Gaitley, and what would have been a sixth had the 2020 season not been canceled. The Rams have now earned a postseason berth in four straight seasons, 2020 not included. Fordham returns four starters, including three All-Conference selections (Anna DeWolfe, Kaitlyn Downey, and Kendell Heremaia) for the first time in program history.
 
vs. Quinnipiac – Tuesday, November 9

• The Bobcats have four MAAC titles and NCAA Tournament appearances since the move to the conference in 2013-14, including two undefeated 18-0 league seasons, plus two WNIT trips. They won the NEC the year prior to leaving.
• Advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2017 with wins against #25 Marquette and at #16 Miami before loss to #3 South Carolina.
• Head coach Tricia Fabbri, a seven-time conference Coach of the Year, has been with the program since 1995 and holds a win percentage over .600 over 772 contests, 61.2% of the program's all-time contests.
• The Bobcats have the reigning MAAC Player of the Year (senior Mackenzie DeWees) and Defensive Player of the Year (Mikala Morris) and return their top six scorers.
• Last year's four-point loss at Quinnipiac was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Anna DeWolfe led the way with 21 points, while Kaitlyn Downey contributed all over the box score with 12 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, a block, and a steal.  The aforementioned Mikala Morris put up an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Bobcats.

at Seton Hall – Saturday, November 13

• Coming off 14-7 season, 12-5 in conference with three Big East First Team All-Conference selections, two of whom return this season (Lauren Park-Lane and Andra Espinoza-Hunter).
• Seton Hall have appeared in four NCAA and six WNIT Tournaments, reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1994.
• The Pirates will also be competing in the Cancun Challenge, but are in the Riviera Division whereas the Rams are in the Mayan Division.
• The Rams are 4-7 all-time against Seton Hall, including a 1-5 record in South Orange. Most recently, Seton Hall, while receiving votes in both national polls, defeated Fordham, 66-54, at home in 2015.

at Notre Dame – Thursday, November 18

• The Fighting Irish, one of the winningest programs in women's college basketball and a perennial powerhouse, are entering their second season following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame had competed in 24 straight NCAA Tournaments and boast 10 alumni in the professional ranks, second only to UConn.
• Notre Dame is a two-time NCAA champion and seven-time Finalist.
• Sophomore Maddy Westbeld returns for the Fighting Irish after being named a WBCA All-America regional finalist, joining Anna DeWolfe in Region 1, and is one of just three in the program's history to do so as a freshman, joining Skylar Diggins and Brianna Turner.
• Incoming freshman Sonia Citron was a consensus All-American as a senior this past year. Citron hails from nearby New Rochelle and attended the same high school, Ursuline, as recent graduate Katie McLoughlin.
• The Rams are 0-3 all-time against the Fighting Irish, two of which came in South Bend. Fordham has played Notre Dame twice under Coach Gaitley, once in the second round of the 2016 preseason WNIT when the Fighting Irish was ranked #1 in the country and two years ago while #16/14 in the Rose Hill Gym, a tense, narrow loss in front of a record sold out crowd. DeWolfe, in her first career game, nearly triple-doubled with 10 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, while Downey posted a career-high five steals, plus two blocks, seven points, and 11 rebounds, and Heremaia was one board shy of a double-double.

vs. Michigan State – Sunday, November 21

• The Spartans reached the NCAA Tournament in March, their 17^th all-time appearance at the Dance. Michigan State made one national championship as a one-seed in 2005, falling to Baylor. The Spartans received four votes in the final Coaches poll of the 2020-21 season.
• Suzy Merchant, a two-time Big Ten champion with the school, holds a 296-156 career record in Lansing since arriving in 2007.
• The Spartans return senior Nia Clouden who was named First Team All-Conference as a junior.
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

vs. Baylor – Thursday, November 25

• The Lady Bears are three-time NCAA champions, most recently in 2019, have made the Final Four on one other occasion, and have made 19 NCAA Tournaments, including last year's run to the Elite Eight before falling to top-seeded UConn, and have appeared in the WNIT on three occasions, as well. Baylor finished the 2020-21 season 5^th in the AP poll.
• Baylor is a 12-time Big 12 champion, including each of the past two years.
• This will be the first season under new head coach Nicki Collen, who arrives after three seasons as coach of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. She replaces Kim Mulkey who left after 21 years at the helm of the program.
• Baylor saw two players drafted in the second round of the 2021 WNBA Draft - DiDi Richards by the New York Liberty and DiJonai Carrington by the Connecticut Sun. It's the sixth straight year at least one player has been drafted and they were the 20^th and 21^st ever selected.
• The Bears return First Team All-Conference NaLyssa Smith, now a junior, and added two All-Conference transfers – Ja'Mee Asberry a Second Team selection from Oklahoma State and Jordan Lewis, a Second Team honoree from Alabama.
• Fordham and Baylor have met just once – in 1988 at the Northern Lights Invitational, an 11-point Bear win.

vs. Houston – Friday, November 26

• The Cougars are two-time Conference USA regular season champs and one-time tournament champions, making five total NCAA Tournament appearances and seven WNIT appearances, the latter including last season, going 1-1 at the Fort Worth regional.
• Sophomore Miya Crump was named Third Team All-Conference after leading the Cougars in scoring with 10.3 points, while freshman Laila Blair was named to the All-Freshman team.
• The two schools have met just once before but it was very recently – in the 2019 Fordham Holiday Classic championship game, with the Rams winning, 63-54, behind 17 points from Anna DeWolfe, 11 rebounds from Kaitlyn Downey, and a 12-7-6 line from Kendall Heremaia. The three combined for six total steals and blocks, as well. Interestingly, the top three scorers in that game for the Cougars all remain with the team and four of the top five, led by Julia Blackshell-Fair.

vs. Arizona State – Saturday, November 27

• The Sun Devils all-time have appeared in 17 NCAA Tournaments and five WNIT tournaments. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona State had gone to six straight NCAA tournaments, making it past the first round every year and to the Sweet 16 twice.
• During Charlie Turner Thorne's 24 years in charge, the Sun Devils have 16 20-win seasons, one 30-win season, and all but three of the team's postseason appearances, reaching the NCAA Elite 8 on two occasions. The team also has five wins over Top-10 teams in the last three seasons with the Sun Devils themselves finishing 25^th in the final AP poll of 2020.
• Then-junior Taya Hanson was named Pac-12 honorable mention overall and for the defensive team last year.
• The two schools have only met one other time – at Arizona State in 2001 for their Holiday Classic, a home win for the Sun Devils.

vs. Stony Brook – Thursday, December 2

• Stony Brook is in its first season under new head coach Ashley Langford. Under seven-year head coach Caroline McCombs, the Seawolves had a 130-76 record and won the America East conference each of the past two years.
• The Seawolves made the NCAA Tournament for a fourth time in their history last year after winning the AEC tournament as the top seed, but the first time since the move to Division I in 1999. Stony Brook has also earned berths for the WNIT and WBI twice each in the past 15 years.
• Stony Brook was fourth in the nation last year in scoring defense, allowing just 52.0 points per game.
• The Seawolves return three of their five All-Conference honorees from a year ago – Dingle, a Second Team selection, now plays for Fordham, and All-Defensive selection Hailey Zeise graduated. Returning are Second Teamer India Pagan, who played for Puerto Rico this Summer at the Tokyo Olympics, Third Team honoree Anastasia Warren, and Sixth Player of the Year McKenzie Bushee.
• The Rams are 7-3 all-time against Stony Brook dating all the way back to 1971 in Fordham's second year of varsity existence. Fordham is 1-2 inside the Rose Hill Gym against the Seawolves all-time, the most recent Bronx meeting coming in 2012, a Stony Brook win. Last November on Long Island, Fordham won, 62-58, in the season opener behind 25 points from Anna DeWolfe and a massive 16-point, 20-rebound effort by Kaitlyn Downey. The Rams weathered a hot shooting night from senior transfer Asiah Dingle, who hit 10-of-15 shots for 22 points to lead the Seawolves, also adding five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals over 37 minutes.  

vs. Princeton – Sunday, December 5

• Princeton, along with the entire Ivy League, sat out the 2020-21 season. Prior to that in head coach Carla Berube's first season, the Tigers went 26-1 overall, undefeated in conference, finishing with a 22-game streak and ninth nationally in RPI, the best mark in Ivy League history.
• Berube was named Ivy League Coach of the Year and Bella Alarie was named WBCA and AP All-America honorable mention for a second straight year in addition to her getting a third straight conference Player of the Year award. Alarie was selected by the Dallas Wings with the 5th overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. 
• In addition to Berube, Princeton returns 2020 First Team All-Conference selection Carlie Littlefield and honorable mention Julia Cunningham.
• Berube, a 1,000-point scorer at UConn, spent 17 years coaching at Tufts at the DIII level, taking them to two national title games, but also coached the USA U16 and U17 teams on two occasions to gold medals at world championships. Alarie, meanwhile, is already the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,703 points.
• The Tigers have been to eight NCAA Tournaments, including one win in 2015 when ranked inside the AP Top-25, and became the first Ivy League team to earn an At-Large bid in 2016. The program owns 15 Ivy League championships since 1971.
• The Tigers are 7-4 all-time against the Rams dating back to 1979 with a 3-3 record in the Rose Hill Gym, including the most recent meeting between the two, a 57-55 win in the Bronx in 2016.

vs. Manhattan – Wednesday, December 8 

• The Jaspers earned their first postseason win in nine years with last season's WBI appearance and win against Loyola Chicago in the second of three contests, falling at the buzzer in the final game to FIU and in the opener to eventual champions Cleveland State.
• Manhattan have won the MAAC, and go on to the Big Dance, on four occasions, also adding two other WBI berths, reaching the semifinals in both 2011 and 2012.
• Rising junior Dee Dee Davis and graduate student Courtney Warley return for the team a year after each earning Second Team All-MAAC honors. Davis led the team in scoring, while Warley, now a three-time All-MAAC recipient, averaged a double-double. Junior Emily LaPointe is two years removed from a MAAC Rookie of the Year campaign, as well.
• This will be the 52^nd Battle of the Bronx, dating back to a first meeting in Riverdale in 1980. The Rams hold a 27-24 all-time advantage over their local rivals including nine straight wins, all under Coach Gaitley. Two years ago, in a 51-45 win on the road, Bre Cavanaugh posted a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double, while DeWolfe added 13 points and Downey had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double.

vs. Lafayette – Sunday, December 12

• Natalie Kucowski, last year's Patriot League Player and Defensive Player of the Year, was drafted by the Seattle Storm in the third round of the 2021 WNBA Draft, the first draftee in program history. She currently plays for KP Brno in the Czech Republic.
• Makayla Andrews earned All-Rookie honors last year. All but two players return from last year's roster, the other graduation was Fordham freshman Sophia Sabino's older sister, Sydney, and Lafayette has added a pair of sophomore transfers from Villanova and Temple.  
• Fordham is 12-6 all-time against the Leopards since 1984, mostly playing all of their games while in the Patriot League between 1991 and 1995. Since, the two schools have met just once, first a 2012 loss in the Rams' Holiday Classic but, most recently, a 12-point win at home in 2015.

vs. Fairleigh Dickinson – Saturday, December 18

• The return of former Gaitley associate head coach Angelika Szumilo to the Rose Hill Gym! Szumilo, a winner of the Northeast Conference as a player under Gaitley at LIU Brooklyn in 2001, coached under Gaitley after her graduation and followed her to Monmouth and then Fordham from 2003 until landing the head-coaching job at FDU in 2019. Szumilo has helped turn the Knights' fortunes around, leading them to their first NEC tournament home game since 1997 and first tournament win since 1992, coaching six All-NEC performers in just two seasons.
• The Knights are coming off a 16-8 overall season and 12-6 conference record, reaching the NEC semifinals in the spring.
• The all-time series between the two schools is 3-3 since 1981. Since 1986, there have been just two games, one each in November of 2009 and 2010, both Fordham wins home and away.

vs. Florida Gulf Coast – Wednesday, December 29

• Head coach Karl Smesko is in his 20^th season with the program, with which he has a 519-98 record (.841), including a 387-77 record (.834) since the Eagles joined Division I in 2007. He is an 11-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year, as well as the 2012 Kay Yow National Coach of the Year and the 2016 espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year.
• FGCU finished the 2020-21 season ranked 24^th in the AP poll and 25^th in the Coaches poll.
• The Eagles have made 16 consecutive postseason appearances, 14 as a DI program, in either the NCAA or WNIT tournaments.
• Florida Gulf Coast have won the ASUN Conference in each of the five seasons and own eight overall titles, plus 11 regular season championships, and are 27-2 all-time in the ASUN tournament.
• Smesko has turned the Eagles into one of the nation's preeminent three-point shooting teams in the past decade, finishing no worse than fifth in any of the past 10 seasons and tops in the country on four occasions, including each of the past two years.
• The Eagles are currently riding a two-year, 21-game long road win stretch that is the 12^th-longest in NCAA history. In fact, just above them in the ranks is the FGCU 2014-16 team that had 22 straight road wins. They are also currently riding a 22-game regular season win streak, as well, heading into this campaign.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.