St. Louis, Mo. – Fordham women's basketball overcame a sluggish start with a furious rally at Saint Louis on Saturday night, but ultimately ran out of a gas in an 87-84 defeat. With the loss, the Rams fall to 14-8 overall and 6-3 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Billikens improve to 7-16 and 3-5, respectively.
Saint Louis was on fire out of the gate, converting on 62.5% of its chances in the opening frame, while the Rams, especially inside the arc, struggled with their shot, trailing 29-17 after 10 minutes of action.
Anna DeWolfe and
Kaitlyn Downey got the squad within seven midway through the quarter with some long-range makes, but the Billikens closed the half strong and led by 11, 49-38, at the interval.
Out of the half, it was nearly all Fordham, who scored a season-high 31-points in the third quarter on a blistering 12-of-17 shooting (70.6%) from the field while making all three three-point attempts and four free-throw attempts, as the Rams took their first lead of the game and held serve, 69-65, heading to the final frame. In the third quarter, six different Rams got on the scoresheet, five of which netted at least three points and none with more than eight as the offense was flowing and spread around.
A frenetic fourth quarter followed. The final media timeout of the contest was used for a referee replay just 75 seconds in the period, ruling out any extended stoppages the rest of the way. The two schools combined for just three field goals over the first four minutes of the fourth before a Kyla McMakin pull-up tied the game, 71-71. A minute later and McMakin put the Billikens ahead with a second-chance bucket after a Julia Martinez offensive rebound. McMakin scored 10 of her team's first 12 points in the fourth as they used a 12-2 run to create a six-point lead. DeWolfe hit a three to get the deficit back to three but the hosts would grow their lead to as much as eight over the ensuing minutes.
The Billikens allowed the Rams to get close by missing 6-of-14 free throws in the period, including four in the final minute as
Asiah Dingle provided a massive spark to get the Rams close. The fifth-year guard struck for a banked-in three to make it a four-point game, then stripped McMakin at halfcourt for a fastbreak layup to cut it to two. On either side of a Fordham timeout, each team converted one free throw, Kennedy Calhoun for Saint Louis and Dingle for the Rams. Dingle atoned for that miss immediately, though, by stealing Martinez's inbounds pass and feeding
Jada Dapaa for an easy lay-in to tie the game, 84-84. Saint Louis would get fouled, however, with McMakin's free throw becoming the go-ahead point. Fordham had a couple looks from deep in the waning seconds, thanks to a big Dapaa rebound, but the shots didn't fall.
Dingle, with 22, and DeWolfe, with 21, led the offense, combining to hit 16-of-30 shots from the field. DeWolfe canned 5-of-6 from behind the arc, Dingle 5-of-6 from the line. Downey added 16 points, hitting 4-of-9 from deep, with eight rebounds and five assists. Dapaa also grabbed eight boards, three offensive, to go with a season-high four dimes. Dingle and
Sarah Karpell also handed out four assists as the team produced another 20-dime performance this year, the former also racking up three more steals.
The Billikens outshot the Rams, 47.1% to 45.8%, while converting 4-of-9 three-point shots (44.4%) compared to Fordham's clip of 37.9% (11-of-29). The Billikens had 43 rebounds, 16 offensive, to the Rams' 35 (12 on the offensive end), but committed 20 turnovers. In terms of second-chance points, Saint Louis won that battle, 23-2, while scoring 50 points in the paint.
Fordham remains on the road to play at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV.
