Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham women's basketball team capped a 10-day stretch with five games by picking up its 15
th win of the season on Saturday night, 62-54, over St. Bonaventure. With the victory, their second straight, the Rams improve to 15-5 overall and 6-2 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Bonnies fall to 10-9 and 2-6, respectively.
Fordham led by four at the half, trailing on just two brief occasions over the opening 20 minutes. However, the combination of Asianae Johnson and I'yanna Lops plus five third-quarter turnovers gave the visitors several opportunities to tie the game up and eventually break through for two two-point leads. Despite the miscues, Fordham responded nearly every time St. Bonaventure made a shot. A lops three-point play assisted by Johnson was answered by a
Kaitlyn Downey three and Downey did the exact same on the subsequent Johnson pull-up. A Downey-assisted
Megan Jonassen hook shot broke a 36-36 tie but the Bonnies took their first lead since the first quarter on Johnson's 10
th point of the period.
Jonassen was quick to break the tie again, this time assisted by
Kendell Heremaia, but Johnson again put her team up with a midrange jumper. That would be it for the visitors, though, as the Rams finished the quarter with two baskets in the final minute to lead by three, 45-42, heading to the fourth.
Asiah Dingle fought through multiple Bonnies and ended up with a clean corner look from distance and sank it to put Fordham ahead for good and with under a second to play,
Anna DeWolfe drove and scored all the way from the top of the key.
The home defense held St. Bonaventure to just 4-of-17 shooting over the final 10 minutes while committing just one turnover on offense, never giving up their newfound lead and jumping out to a nine-point advantage, 53-44, in under two minutes to start the final frame. Lops began the quarter with another Johnson-assisted layup, but DeWolfe drained a three in response. A Johnson turnover led to a pair of DeWolfe free throws, a DeWolfe steal of Lops, and a DeWolfe-assisted Downey trey, prompting Bonnies head coach Jesse Fleming into calling timeout. The Bonnies would only get as close as a five-point deficit the rest of the way.
DeWolfe notched her 13
th 20-point game of the year, hitting the number on the dot with three assists, a steal, a block, and a rebound over all 40 minutes. Dingle chipped in 14 points, five boards, a game-high three steals, and two dimes across 38 minutes, Downey finished with 12 points, a game-high five assists, four boards, two blocks, and a steal, and
Megan Jonassen corralled a season-high 12 rebounds to go with eight points.
Fordham shot 42.9% overall, 34.8% from deep, and 6-of-11 from the line, while the Bonnies shot 38.9%, 16.7%, and 11-of-16, respectively. The Rams won the battle of the boards, 32-27, and assisted on 16 of 24 baskets on the night, but committed one more turnover, 12-11.
The Rams now head on a three-game road swing that begins at Duquesne next Saturday, February 5, at 2 p.m.
