Las Vegas, Nev. –
Anna DeWolfe and
Asiah Dingle put on a show in the second half of Saturday's 78-65 win over South Dakota to wrap up play at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, combining for 39 efficient points en route to the 13-point victory. The Rams split the weekend and improve to 4-3 on the year.
The backcourt duo became the first pair of Rams in the Atlantic 10 era (since 1995-96) to score 25 or more points in the same game. Dingle finished with 27, hitting a career-best five three-pointers and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, the 23
rd time in program history a player has converted all freebies of eight or more. DeWolfe netted 26 points, matched her personal-best of six threes, tied for fifth-most in a game in program history, on 10 attempts.
Fordham enjoyed a hot start to the contest as
Kaitlyn Downey hit a three after her steal on the other end for the game's first bucket and the Rams led, 17-11, at the end of the first period, capped by a buzzer-beating banked jumper from Dingle. The second period brought a rainstorm of threes from both teams – a combined 10. The quarter's first, by South Dakota's Grace Larkins, made it a three-point game and prompted a timeout from interim head coach
Candice Green. Out of the break, on four of five consecutive possessions Fordham knocked down a three, two each by Dingle and Downey, building up an 11-point lead, 31-20, forcing the Coyotes into a timeout. Like the Rams' reversal of fortunes earlier, South Dakota then hit five threes during a 16-4 run to close the half over the final five-plus minutes to lead, 39-35, at the interval.
It didn't take long for the Rams to retake the lead as they opened the second stanza on a 10-3 run. On the first possession,
Megan Jonassen found
Sarah Karpell under the basket with a nifty pass for a reverse layup and DeWolfe canned back-to-back treys thereafter as South Dakota burned its third 30-second timeout to break a media break. As the Coyotes made their shots, DeWolfe continued to make hers from behind the arc, personally keeping pace with a series of threes, four total in the quarter, including the eventual go-ahead basket at 48-47 after a Jonassen offensive rebound. DeWolfe finished with 16 points in the third period while Dingle hit all six of her free throws and canned a late triple of her own to push the lead back into double figures, 62-51, where it would stay for the rest of the game.
It took nearly four minutes for the fourth quarter's first basket as both sides played stout defense but it was yet another DeWolfe trey to make it a 14-point game. The lead wouldn't drop below 13 and grew to 17 at its apex.
The Rams matched their 14 three-pointers from Sunday's massive win over Wagner but did so on five fewer attempts, shooting 51.9% from distance, which is just outside the all-time top-10 in a single contest. Downey contributed the other three long-range makes and finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block over 25 minutes. Dingle added five rebounds and two steals, while DeWolfe tacked on four boards, four assists, and a steal over a team-high 38 minutes.
Sarah Karpell set a new career-high with seven assists to go with her six points, while
Jada Dapaa hauled in 14 rebounds, six on the offensive glass, while also netting six points, plus two assists and a block. Jonassen grabbed three of her seven boards on the offensive end, as well, while handing out three dimes.
Fordham racked up 20 assists on their 27 makes while committing just 10 turnovers. The team was a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe, the fifth time in the A-10 era that has happened with at least 10 attempts. With the event still ongoing, DeWolfe was selected to the All-Holiday Classic team.
The Rams return to the east coast for Wednesday's tilt against Fairfield at 5:30 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's squad. It'll be streamed live on SNY, ESPN+, and WFUV.
