Richmond, Va. – Despite a furious fourth-quarter rally, the Fordham women's basketball team fell at Richmond, 79-69, on Wednesday night in the team's road regular season finale. With the loss, the Rams fall to 16-9 overall and 7-6 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Spiders improve to 15-13 and 6-9, respectively.
Over the first 5:45 of the final period, the visitors outscored the hosts, 22-4, to cut a 26-point deficit heading into the frame down to just eight, 71-63, with 4:15 to play. Extrapolated, that run was 30-10 after Richmond had taken its largest lead of the night, 63-33, late in the third. From that point on, though, Fordham's shot reverted back to its earlier struggles despite continued defensive pressure as only
Asiah Dingle's six made free throws made up the offense over the final minutes.
Dingle was immense, finishing with a game-high 31 points plus six rebounds, a season-high-matching six steals, and two assists, to just one turnover, over 32 minutes. She shot an uber-efficient 9-of-14 from the field and hit 11-of-14 free throws.
Kaitlyn Downey added 12 points with a team-high eight rebounds and five assists, plus two steals, across 28 minutes, with
Kendell Heremaia adding 10 points and piling up three steals and two blocks.
Anna DeWolfe, with nine,
Sarah Karpell, with five, and
Megan Jonassen, two, rounded out the scoring.
The defense racked up 14 steals, one off the team's season-high, and committed just eight turnovers, second-fewest on the year, but the offense struggled to 34.3% overall shooting, 32.3% from distance, and 64.7% from the line, although the team shot 57.1% from the floor in the fourth quarter while hitting 4-of-8 three-point attempts and 8-of-12 at the line.
Richmond meanwhile finished shooting 50.9% from the field, 38.1% from deep, and 13-of-17 from the line, shooting 60% or better in the first and third periods. The Spiders outrebounded the Rams, 47-31, although the visitors had 11 offensive boards to the hosts' 10. Richmond also committed 19 turnovers, leading to 16 Fordham points, but the Spiders scored 40 points in the paint and had 11 second-chance points.
Fordham wraps up its regular season at home this Saturday against Davidson. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on SNY, ESPN+, and WFUV. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to honor the team's five graduating student-athletes!
