BRONX, N.Y. – Starting off the year on the right note, Fordham University women's basketball defeated Adelphi 70-43 Monday afternoon to open the 2023-24 season. A trio of players ended the game in double-figures for the Rams, who outscored the Panthers in three of four quarters en route to the victory.
The win also marks the first for Head Coach Bridgette Mitchell at the helm of the Fordham program, in her third season as a collegiate head coach. All ten active players saw at least five minutes of action in the contest, as the Rams shot just over 40% from the field, paced by 18 points by Emy Hayford, who drilled a pair of threes on the night. Hayford would also tally seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, one of three Fordham players with three steals against the Panthers.
Taylor Donaldson was another member of that group, recording a trio of steals alongside 12 points and four boards, helping the Rams out-rebound Adelphi 55-39 for the game. Matilda Flood would record eight points, while poking the ball away on three occasions as well, while Mandy McGurk rounded out the double-digit point scorers with 10 for the day while also pulling in four rebounds.
Starting the game with a slight advantage, Adelphi would take a three point lead just before the media timeout of the first quarter at 5-8, but were answered just before the stoppage with one of two makes from Hayford beyond the arc. Out of that break with 4:27 left in the first, Fordham would allow the Panthers to score just once more in the quarter, pulling away on a 16-2 run to end the quarter.
Recording the first three baskets of the second stanza, the Rams were contested much more closely as the quarter progressed, taking as much as an 18-point advantage at one point. Adelphi would slowly creep its way back into the game, stringing together a handful of points late to cut the deficit to just nine at the break.
Out of halftime, the two sides would trade basket for basket, but the Rams would eventually pull away and start to take back their advantage. Adelphi would cut it to 11 after the media stoppage in the third, but that would be the closest the visitors would get, as Fordham closed the frame on an 11-4 run.
Continuing to pull away late, Fordham would tally the first four buckets of the final stanza, and held Adelphi off the board for the first 5:22 of the quarter. Taking its biggest lead in the closing stages, the Rams would pull away for a victory in the first of back-to-back home games to open the year.
Fordham women's basketball is back in action Friday when they return to the Rose Hill Gym to host UAlbany. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
