Philadelphia, Pa. – Fordham women's basketball rebounded from Wednesday's loss with a vengeance, jumping out to a huge lead and withstanding a furious rally to defeat Saint Joseph's on the road, 71-65. With the win, the Rams improve to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Hawks fall to 14-5 and 4-3, respectively.
In
Kaitlyn Downey's record-setting 127
th start, the graduate forward provided the dagger late in the fourth quarter, turning a three-point advantage into six with a triple late in the shot clock. Fordham couldn't miss in the first quarter, scoring 27 points on 68.8% shooting, including 5-of-7 from behind the arc, and finished the first half with a 43-25 lead while shooting 64.2% from the floor. Saint Joseph's flipped the script in the second half, using a 25-11 third quarter to get within four, 54-50, and eventually within three on multiple occasions in the fourth. However, the Rams made several clutch baskets along the way to keep the hosts at bay and secure the win.
The go-ahead bucket came with 7:28 to play in the first quarter, an
Anna DeWolfe three to make it a 7-6 game. That make started a 23-6 run the rest of the period. After a couple scoreless minutes, DeWolfe struck again from distance and
Matilda Flood found
Asiah Dingle for an easy lay-in moments later, forcing the Hawks into an early timeout. Flood found Dingle again out of the break and the lead reached double figures for the first time on a
Colleen McQuillen three at the 3:34 mark. Talya Brugler stopped the run briefly before McQuillen responded with a corner trey on the other end of the court. With the lead at eight, 20-12, after a mini 4-0 Hawk run, Dingle stripped Olivia Mullins at half court and took the ball to the hoop to kickstart a 19-4 run over the next seven minutes. Dingle provided the next basket by racing past defenders after a defensive rebound to go coast-to-coast and Downey capped the opening frame with the first of her three long-range bombs.
The Rams started the second with seven unanswered points and led by as much as 23 on two occasions before Saint Joseph's closed the half on a 5-0 run. The Hawks began the second half on a 10-5 run to force the visitors into burning a timeout. Out of the break, Flood and McQuillen went back-to-back from distance to bring the margin back to 19, 54-35, with 4:45 left in the frame. Out of the media timeout, it was all Saint Joseph's, closing the period on a 15-0 run.
Dingle set the tone in the fourth quarter with a tough make in the paint on the Rams' opening possession and then made another tough shot a few minutes later with the lead down to three, 56-53. A Dingle steal of Katie Jekot led to a DeWolfe three with 5:37 to play to create some breathing room, making it an eight-point game. Dingle converted two more crucial baskets in the period, one with 2:44 to go and another with 1:33 to play, both to turn a one-possession game into two. Brugler hit a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left and Fordham called timeout. Out of the break, Downey got the ball with a couple ticks left on the shot clock and delivered a massive triple with 25 seconds to play. Mullins would knock down a three moments later but free throws from Dingle and
Jada Dapaa saw things out.
Dingle finished with a game-high 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while DeWolfe added 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 4-of-8 from deep. Dingle added six rebounds, four steals, and three assists, all tops on the squad. Dapaa, who made her first start for the Rams, and Downey each corralled six boards, as well, while McQuillen matched her career-high of nine points for a fifth time, hitting all three long-range attempts. Flood provided six points, four rebounds, and three assists in 16 minutes off the bench.
The Rams finished shooting 48.3% from the floor and 11-of-24 from behind the arc (45.8%) compared to Saint Joseph's marks of 40.7% and 31.3%, respectively. The Hawks also hit 12-of-14 free throws while the Rams converted 4-of-6. Both teams committed 15 turnovers and the Hawks outrebounded the Rams, 36-30, including an 11-6 margin on the offensive end. Fordham started the game out with seven assists on 11 field goals but finished with just 11 total dimes.
The Rams are back in action this Wednesday night at home against Richmond at 7 p.m. on SNY, ESPN+, and WFUV.
