Women's Basketball Outlasts George Washington

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Bronx, N.Y. – Between two straight weekends on the road, the Fordham women's basketball team returned home for a quick midweek meeting with George Washington on Wednesday night and prevailed, 61-53. With the win, their third straight, the Rams improve to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic 10 action, while the Colonials fall to 7-9 and 0-3, respectively.
 
"Proud of our kids for beating a tough GW team." Head coach Stephanie Gaitley said, "It's a tough stretch ahead and it was important to protect home court."
 
The Colonials started out hot, making shots on three of their first four possessions, though the Rams answered each of the first three. Kendell Heremaia's three put the hosts up for the first time, 7-6, but Taylor Webster responded with one of her own right away and George Washington held a 9-7 lead over the next two minutes until an Asiah Dingle three put the Rams back ahead. After a Nya Lok three-point play tied the game up at 14-14, Anna DeWolfe sank a three that proved to be the go-ahead bucket.
 
That make late in the first started a 14-0 run that lasted until the 5:10 mark of the second quarter, broken up by an Essence Brown jumper. The visitors were able to regroup and finished the half on a 12-2 run to trail by just four, 30-26, at the interval. Out of the break, Lok hit a three off an offensive rebound by Webster to get within one but after more than two scoreless minutes Dingle dropped a lay-up in through contact and converted the and-one opportunity to start a 7-1 run to gain some separation. George Washington got within two again a couple times late in the period and again once in the fourth but the Rams responded each and every time. After that latter basket, it was DeWolfe and Dingle to combine for six straight points while the offense kept the visitors off the board for most of the rest of the way.
 
After scoring in single digits for just the second time in the past season-and-a-half, DeWolfe netted 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting with four assists, three boards, and a steal over all but three seconds in the contest. Dingle added 15 points, four assists, three rebounds, and a steal, while Heremaia chipped in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. The starting forward duo of Kaitlyn Downey and Megan Jonassen combined for 13 rebounds, four offensive, with eight points, with both adding a steal and Downey handing out four dimes and notching a block.
 
Off the bench, Maranda Nyborg scored four points with a pair of blocks across 13 minutes, while Sarah Karpell and Matilda Flood grabbed three and two offensive rebounds, respectively, of four and five total. Karpell also assisted on three baskets before fouling out, while Flood netted a pair of steals, as well.
 
Fordham shot 43.4% from the floor and 40.0% from distance, also hitting 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Fordham outrebounded the Colonials, 32-29, with both teams grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. Of 23 field goals, the Rams assisted on 17.
 
The Rams return to the road for two games within 48 hours this weekend – first at Davidson at 7 p.m. on Friday night and then at Dayton on ESPNU at noon on Sunday.