Princeton, N.J. – A classic back-and-forth meeting between Fordham women's basketball at RV/RV Princeton, with 15 lead changes and five ties, ultimately ended in a three-point win at home for the Tigers, 70-67, while graduate forward
Kaitlyn Downey became the 25
th member of the program's 1,000-point club. With the loss, the Rams fall to 2-2, while Princeton improves to 3-1.
Downey sank a three and then hit a tough turnaround jumper near the free-throw line for her 1,000
th point, finishing the contested with team-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds, plus two assists and two steals over a team-high 36 minutes.
Asiah Dingle also crossed the 1,500-point threshold with her first basket, as well.
The Rams struggled to get going in the opening period, scoring 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting and 3-of-5 from the line, while the hosts netted 16 on 46.7% shooting. Fordham turned the switch on to begin the second, taking its first lead, 24-23, on a
Megan Jonassen three, one of her career-high three on the night, to cap a 13-7 run to start the frame. On the next possession, a Dingle feint led to a wide-open Jonassen layup to tie the contest again, 26-26. The Tigers then slowly built up a six-point lead at the half, 39-33, although
Colleen McQuillen hit a timely three with 44 seconds left to keep it close.
The third quarter was littered with turnovers on both ends but also super-efficient offense, the Rams outscoring the Tigers, 17-14, but shooting slightly worse, 70.0% to 61.5%. Fordham began with six unanswered points, two buckets by Dingle, one by Downey, to tie the game at 39-39, then took two separate leads, 42-41, through a Downey trey, and, 44-43, on a contested
Jada Dapaa jumper. Fordham took two three-point leads through Dingle and
Sarah Karpell baskets in the paint but each were quickly answered by Tiger jumpers in the paint. An
Anna DeWolfe three following a steal made it 50-47 but the Tigers closed the period on a 6-0 run.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Jonassen and Downey put Fordham back up, 56-55, before the schools started trading baskets from that point on. Out of the media timeout, Dingle converted a big three-point play with four minutes to play but Grace Stone, as she had all game, hit a backbreaking three a minute later. Kaitlyn Chen made it a there-point contest with 1:52 to play and offense dried up on both ends. The Tigers converted their free throws down the stretch despite a pair of late Downey layups.
Downey shot 8-of-12 from the floor, 3-of-4 from distance, for her 19 points. Jonassen fell one point shy of her career-high, hitting 6-of-7 overall and a career-best 3-of-3 from deep for 15 points. Dingle chipped in 13 points and a team-high five assists, while DeWolfe was held to six points over 27 minutes before fouling out.
Fordham shot 44.3% from the floor, hit 7-of-20 three-point attempts, and 6-of-8 from the line, with 14 assists to 15 turnovers. Princeton shot 53.8% from the floor, 4-of-8 from behind the arc, and 10-of-16 from the stripe with 18 turnovers.
The Rams return home to host Wagner on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on SNY locally, ESPN+, and WFUV.
