Women's Basketball Opens Conference Play with Davidson Sunday

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Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham (8-5) begins the new year and Atlantic 10 play on New Year's Day, this Sunday at 2 p.m., on CBS Sports Network and WFUV against Davidson (7-7, 0-0).
 
Ramses Challenge
Join the Ramses Challenge, a new philanthropic initiative supporting our student-athletes! Pledge a set amount of money for each three-pointer or steal this year, or make a one-time gift to the program. All proceeds are tax-deductible and go directly to Fordham women's basketball. Read more here. So far, the Rams have 116 made threes and a whopping 119 steals! Thank you for all your continued support!
 
Last Time Out
The Rams closed out their nonconference slate with a 31-point win over Division II foe Post, 85-54, on Wednesday afternoon. Fordham led the entire contest although the visiting Eagles kept things close in the first half, using a 6-0 run to get within one, 25-24, midway through the second and within two, 29-27, with 2:46 to play, but the Rams scored seven unanswered heading into the interval and maintained that momentum with 13 straight points to begin the second half to take a 22-point lead, 49-27, nearly four minutes into the second half.
 
Anna DeWolfe led the way with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including her 1,500th career point to move into solo fifth all-time in program history. Asiah Dingle piled up 15 points, six steals, three rebounds, and three assists, Kaitlyn Downey notched her seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 boards, and Sarah Karpell matched her career-high of seven assists. Off the bench, Jada Dapaa hauled in 10 rebounds, while Colleen McQuillen knocked down 3-of-5 long-range attempts to match her season-high of nine points. Also off the pine was Matilda Flood, setting a new personal-best with three blocks, and Sophia Sabino, hitting a pair of treys for six points.
 
The Rams sank 34 field goals, tied for sixth-most in a single game in program history, while their 23 assists were tied for ninth-most.
 
Dingle Named A-10 Player of the Week a Second Time
Asiah Dingle earned her second honor of the year last week, which you can read more about here.
 
Series History
Fordham holds a 12-5 record over the Wildcats since the latter joined the A-10 in 2015. The Rams are 7-2 inside the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym, as well, including a 68-57 win in last year's regular season finale. Earlier in the year, Fordham also won at Davidson, 63-51. In the two contests, Anna DeWolfe and Asiah Dingle averaged 19.5 and 16.5 points, respectively, while Megan Jonassen averaged 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 offensive.
 
Nationally Speaking (as of 12/30)
Fordham have played at a much faster tempo this season, averaging 74.7 points per contest, which ranks 62nd in the nation. The offense's 1.21 assist/turnover ratio, tops in the Atlantic 10, sits 29th nationally. Fordham also makes the 12th-most threes per game (8.9) with the 48th-best success rate (35.3%). The Rams are dishing out the 41st-most assists per game (16.7) while committing just 13.7 turnovers per game, ranked 49th, and have the 105th-best steals per game rate (9.2) in the country. The offense is also hitting free throws at the fifth-best rate (79.9%) despite taking the 341st-fewest attempts (11.5).
 
Individually, Asiah Dingle is 12th in steals per game, 27th in field goals, 28th in points per game, 121st in free throws made, and 168th in assists per game. Kaitlyn Downey is fifth in defensive rebounds per game, 39th in total boards per game, and 10th in double-doubles. Anna DeWolfe is 74th in points per game, 21st in total threes, 43rd in field goals, and 32nd in threes per game.
 
Triple D - DeWolfe, Dingle, Downey
Shut the front door! The Fordham trio have been gnarly, righteous, dynamite, and, perhaps most importantly, the bomb-dot-com. All three earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors and had at least one A-10 Player of the Week award last season. Combined, they made up 66.1% of the team's scoring on a combined 40.2% shooting overall. They are the real deal. Through three games so far, those numbers are similar – 65.2% of the scoring on 43.3% shooting. For context for the uninitiated, this entire blurb is an ode to Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
 
Three 1,000-Point Scorers
With her tough turnaround second-quarter jumper at Princeton, Kaitlyn Downey became the 25th Ram to score 1,000 points in program history. Now 22nd with 1,119 points, she joins Asiah Dingle (1,695 across three schools and five seasons) and Anna DeWolfe (1,515 – fifth-most in school history). Nationally, the Rams are one of 11 schools with three active student-athletes with 1,000 career points, although they are the only mid-major school. Virginia Tech has four.
 
Asiah and Co. Steal the Show
You thought Asiah Dingle's five steals in the season opener was a handful? She doubled that with a program-record 10 against Saint Peter's, notching her ninth and 10th on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. Her previous best was six, which she'd accomplished several times over her career, including once with Fordham. The previous school record was eight, done five times by four student-athletes, but not since Lauren Fleischer in 2001. Her teammates added 11 thefts against the Peacocks to set a new single-game team record, as well, by three, with 21.
 
Are You Experienced?
Fordham's current starting lineup entered this season with a mammoth 488 career games played, unofficially the most in the country via asking national Division I SIDs. Behind them at the beginning of the year were Virginia Tech (431), Oklahoma (427), and UT Arlington (402, but 444 including JUCO). Fordham is now up to 553 games played for its starting five with grad transfer Jada Dapaa adding 100 off the bench.
 
Back-to-Back Players of the Week
Asiah Dingle earned the league's first weekly accolade of the year after helping Fordham begin the year 2-1 while averaging 17.3 points on 46.2% shooting, 6.7 rebounds, a whopping 5.0 steals, including a record 10 thefts against Saint Peter's, 3.3 assists, and 0.7 blocks all over just 27.7 minutes per game. Then it was Kaitlyn Downey's turn the following week, her third time winning the award, after averaging an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double last week with 3.5 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals. She also became the 25th Ram to reach 1,000 career points, at Princeton.
 
It's Raining Threes, Hallelujah!
From three-point land the Rams have been scorching all season long, shooting 35.3% as a group, which ranks 48th nationally and third in the league. Colleen McQuillen (50.0%) and Megan Jonassen (43.8%) have been terrific albeit on limited attempts, but the Triple D trio of DeWolfe (37.9%), Dingle (38.3%), and Downey (37.7%) have been knocking down shots all year long from distance, combining for 86 triples thus far. If you took out all other players, combined for 9-of-57 shooting (15.8%), that quintet is shooting 39.3% (107-of-272).
 
Captains +1
Fifth-years Kaitlyn Downey and Megan Jonassen, plus senior Anna DeWolfe, served as team captains last year. They will do so again this year plus new addition Jada Dapaa, who was voted as the fourth captain by her teammates. It's Downey's fourth year as a captain, most in program history after J.J. Radice's three years, DeWolfe's third, and Jonassen's second.
 
Up Next
The Rams host VCU on Wednesday at noon in the team's annual Kids Day game on ESPN+ and WFUV.