Bronx, N.Y. – Just find a way to win. Fordham women's basketball picked up a hard-fought second straight victory to begin Atlantic 10 play on Wednesday afternoon, 60-59 over VCU, in front of over 1,500 local schoolchildren, with a wild finish that included an
Asiah Dingle last-second layup and a just-barely waved off buzzer-beater by the visitors after review. With the result, the (home) Rams improve to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in league action, while the (visiting) Rams fall to 3-11 and 0-2, respectively.
VCU came out strong in the opening period, holding the hosts to just nine points and three field goals, while shooting 53.3% from the floor for an 18-9 lead after 10 minutes. Sarah Te-Biasu set the tone for her squad with a runner in the paint, the first two of her 21 points, as did Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, who notched her first of three blocks on the other end, the first of seven swats for VCU. The home team began to make shots and whittle the deficit down, winning the second period, 18-15, but trailing, 33-27, at the half. Fordham finished the first half on a 6-2 run, though, with all three baskets coming from the forward duo of
Kaitlyn Downey and
Jada Dapaa, before a late Mykel Parham jumper capped the scoring.
Fordham battled and battled and eventually wrested the lead away from VCU late in the third quarter. The (home) Rams outscored their counterparts, 21-13, in the period. One of the turning points came at the 4:09 mark when Downey knocked down a triple to cut the lead to one, 41-40, following a selfless offensive rebound by
Matilda Flood, who dove into the courtside seats to continue possession. The Bronx Rams closed the period on an 8-2 run while taking their first lead of the contest through an
Anna DeWolfe triple with 46 seconds left. The senior closed the quarter out with a baseline jumper with three seconds left to put her team up, 48-46, heading to the fourth.
While the hosts created separation through a Downey three, a Dingle jumper, and a DeWolfe three-point play, creating a seven-point gap, 56-49, VCU hunkered down and began to claw back, scoring seven unanswered over the next 1:32 to tie the game and force Fordham into a timeout. On the next two possessions, Dingle hit a pair of free throws and Jennifer Ezeh hit one. The teams traded missed from distance then Parham put back a Te-Biasu miss to give VCU the lead with 1:10 to play. A few possessions later and Downey came up with a huge offensive rebound with nine seconds to go, calling timeout with the ball. With 1.6 seconds on the clock, Dingle drove and laid the ball up and in to send the Rose Hill Gym into a frenzy. VCU used its final timeout, advanced the ball, and had fresh substitute Elze Motekailyte inbounds to Ezeh whose desperation floater fell as the visiting bench exploded in celebration. However, upon review, officials determined the buzzer sounded by the slimmest of margins and waved the basket off, giving Fordham the win.
Dingle finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 3-of-7 from deep, with five rebounds, two assists, and a block, while DeWolfe scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half, sinking 4-of-5 shots over the final 20 minutes and adding a pair of steals across 38 minutes. Downey fell just one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 12, with three dimes and two steals, while Dapaa contributed six points, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks off the bench.
VCU outshot Fordham, 43.1% to 37.1%, and outrebounded them, 32-18, including an 11-10 margin on the offensive glass. The hosts shot better from deep, 33.3% to 31.3%, and 8-of-11 from the line compared to 4-of-9 for the visitors. Both teams committed 14 turnovers while combining for 26 total steals and blocks. Fordham scored 17 of its points off of turnovers.
The Rams next head on the road for a pair of road contests – first at Dayton this Sunday at noon on CBS Sports Network then at George Washington next Wednesday, also at noon, on ESPN+, with both streaming on WFUV, as well.
Gallery: (1-4-2023) WBB vs. VCU
