CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A resilient Fordham University women's basketball team nearly doubled its point total for the game in the final 15 minutes of action Sunday, as the Rams suffered their first loss of the season at Miami, 78-39.
Tallying double digits points for her third game in a row to start the year, Taylor Donaldson led the Fordham offense with 13 points alongside five boards and a pair of steals, which included a trio of three points. The Rams would see five players notch at least five rebounds, Including Emy Hayford who also had six points and four steals. Taya Davis tallied seven points from the field as the final player in that group of rebounders, while also picking a pair of steals.
As a team, the Rams collected 15 steals, the third such game with 10 or more, as eight of nine players to see game action Sunday tallied at least one. Seven of eight Rams would tally at least one make from the field, in a game that all together saw just a single trip to the free throw line, and just two shots from the charity stripe in the 40 minutes of action.
Donaldson would tally all eight of the Rams' first quarter points as Fordham kept the opening frame close, trailing by just four with less than three minutes to play. Miami however would tack on a flurry of baskets late, with five makes from the field in the final 2:39 of the quarter to take a big lead after one.
The Hurricanes carried their momentum into the second quarter, stretching their margin with an extended run that would carry into the latter stages of the half. The Rams would sink three of the final five shots made in the half, as they halted the run, holding Miami to just four points in the final 4:27 going into the locker room.
A quiet start to the second half saw the two teams combine to score just nine points heading into the second of two media timeouts in the quarter. From there the Rams would nearly double their point total for the game over the course of the next ten minutes, tallying 18 points between 4:57 in the third and 4:33 in the final quarter.
Strong play by Fordham in the final two frames saw five different players tally a basket in that 10 minute stretch, in a low scoring affair the rest of the way as Miami claimed the win 78-39.
Fordham returns to the Five Boroughs for its next game Thursday afternoon when they host local foe Manhattan in the annual "Battle of the Bronx" which will also be featured as the first of six broadcasts for Fordham Women's Basketball on SNY.
