ALBANY, N.Y. - After a brief dip into Atlantic 10 Conference play Tuesday, Fordham University women's basketball plays its second of three road games this week with a trip to the Capital Region as they continue non-conference action. The Rams will take on Siena at 7:00 p.m. from Loudonville, N.Y. on ESPN+ Thursday night.

Fordham Fast Pass

• Fordham enters play 5-4 with victories over Adelphi and UAlbany the first week of the campaign.

• Women's basketball won three consecutive games after defeating Saint Peter's last Tuesday, 80-46, following victories over UMass Lowell and Georgian Court the week before, but are coming off two losses to Maine and Duquesne.

• Fordham was one of four Atlantic 10 teams who opened A-10 play Tuesday night, falling to Duquesne in overtime in Pittsburgh. Conference play continues alongside the rest of the league's opening games on Dec. 30.

• Fordham's 28 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday night were the most points scored by the Rams in any quarter this season.

• Taylor Donaldson was tabbed A-10 Player of the Week Monday following a dominant week, led by a career-high 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting with seven three pointers against Saint Peter's, and she currently sits amongst the Top-100 players in the country in eight statistical categories

• The Rams place within the Top-100 teams in five different categories as a group.

• Fordham has tallied double digit assists for five consecutive games and six times this season.

• Tallying double digit steals in seven of the first nine games of the season, the Rams are averaging an even 11.0 per game thus far, tied for 39th best in the country in steals per game, and hold the highest average mark of any team in the A-10.

Run it Back Recap

Kickoff a three-game week, Fordham headed to Pittsburgh for a Tuesday night meeting with Duquesne where they opened the Atlantic 10 slate of games. Albeit a single conference date before league play kicks up for everyone Dec. 30, the Rams and Duquesne battled for 40 minutes and more, with the Dukes outlasting Fordham in a heartbreaker, 75-73 in overtime Tuesday night.

Battling back from a double-digit deficit to start the fourth quarter, Fordham forced the extra period in their conference opener, one of just two games to open league play ahead of the holiday break. Scoring the final bucket in regulation, Fordham outscored the Dukes 28-12 in the fourth, getting a stop in the closing seconds to extend the game.

Leading the Herd

At 18.9 points per game (.381), Donaldson is leading the team on offense, tallying 132 points in her first seven games of action, with Emy Hayford sitting second at 11.6 points per game and stands as the only Ram to start and play in all nine games this season, shooting just over 40 percent from the field. With 99 steals as a team, four players have picked ten or more, led by 20 from Hayford, 19 from Donaldson, and 18 from Matilda Flood. The A-10 leaders in steals as a team, the trio sit amongst the top-six players in the conference in total steals and steals per game, and each sit in the top-100 nationally.

Mandy McGurk has tallied 10 steals thus far, while Maranda Nyborg helps lead that defensive dominance with 12 blocks at 1.3 per game. As a team, the Rams have also assisted on just shy of half of their makes this season with 110 dimes on 230 total made shots, led by 33 from Taya Davis, and as a team are shooting 42 percent from the field and just over 31 percent from three-point range. On the glass, Fordham holds a +2.8 rebound differential on their opponents, including +11 on offensive boards.

Flipping Through the Record Book

Having played just once in the new millennium, this will mark the first meeting with Siena since Dec. 30, 2010, and just the second meeting between the two sides since 1990. Fordham is still seeking its first win in the all-time series with the Saints claiming six of those wins between 1986 and 1990.

Early Action in the A-10

Fordham headed to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for a meeting with Duquesne, one of two games tipping off to officially open the league side of the calendar across the Atlantic 10. Dayton traveled to Davidson to complete the Dec. 5 doubleheader in women's basketball, with the remainder of the league not opening conference play until after the holiday break, on Dec. 30 with 14 of 15 teams in action just before the turn of the calendar to 2024.

Donaldson Dominates

Following an exhilarating week that saw her soar to a new career-high in points Tuesday night, senior Taylor Donaldson was tabbed as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Monday afternoon.

In a pair of games, last week Donaldson averaged 28.0 points per game, while shooting an even 50% both from the field and beyond the arc. The Newbury Park, Calif. native would also average six rebounds and 3.5 steals per game, as she began the week with a career-high 35 point showing as the Rams defeated Saint Peter's 80-46. Shooting 12-for-19 in the game with seven three pointers, the performance marked the most points scored by a Fordham player since 2018.

Stacking Up Against the Saints

Five games into the 2023-24 campaign, Siena sits at 2-3 on the year, with wins at Binghamton and Dartmouth the first two games of the season, before three consecutive losses heading into Thursday. Elisa Mevius leads the team on offense at 16.2 points per game and paces the MAAC in both total steals with 26, and steals per-game at 5.2 per. She also ranks second nationally in steals per-contest, third in minutes per-game, and 11th in total steals, while Anajah Brown is tied for second on the team at 11.0 points per game, and leads the team in rebounds with 37 total.

National Numbers

As the non-conference season begins to wind down, a number of Rams find themselves amongst the nations leaders in a variety of statistical categories, and as a team, place top-100 in five different headings as well…

• Sitting within the top-100 in eight statistical categories, Donaldson currently places 43rd in the country with 18.9 points per game, and is scoring at the highest clip of any player in the A-10 after claiming the conference's Player of the Week award Monday. 

• She also sits 46th in the country in steals per game and 48th in three-pointers made per game, while placing second in the league in each of those two categories.

• The Rams are 39th nationally in steals per game, the highest mark of any A-10 team.

• Emy Hayford has collected the 59th most steals of any player in Division I women's basketball, with Matilda Flood sitting 99th in the country. Together, Donaldson, Hayford, and Flood stand second, fourth, and sixth respectively amongst all A-10 players in total steals.

• Fordham sits 56th in the nation as a team in blocks per game with the second best average in the league.

• Forcing 16.4 turnovers per game, the Rams place 63rd amongst all Division I teams in that category and second best in the A-10, along with the third best turnover margin in the conference, which is also good enough for 78th nationally.

• With a differential of +7.2, Fordham holds the 86th best scoring margin of any DI team through Tuesday night's games.

• Maranda Nyborg sits 71st in the country in blocks per game at 1.3 per contest.

Clicking the Guide Button

In addition the A-10 deal with ESPN will see the full slate of 18 Fordham home games broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, the 2023-24 Rams will have 10 total games broadcast on regional sports networks. The Rams will play four games on a network familiar to Bronx sports fans, with the YES (Yankees Entertainment & Sports) Network hosting four games, two in non-conference play with the second being the Maine game, followed by a pair of A-10 dates in late January. Earlier this season the Rams also played the first of six broadcasts for Fordham women's basketball on Sportsnet New York (SNY).

Fordham will take on Davidson on National television Jan. 14, 2024 when the Rams and Wildcats square off from the Rose Hill Gym on CBS Sports Network.

Next Stop

Fordham women's basketball wraps a busy three game week ahead of the holiday break, with a trip up I-95 for a meeting with Fairfield in the Nutmeg State Sunday afternoon.