Women's Basketball Hosts Drexel Thursday in WNIT First Round

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Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham (18-12, 10-6) begins its WNIT journey by hosting Drexel (21-9, 13-5 CAA) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WFUV. SNY will have a replay of the contest on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and fans can switch over to MSG for Baseball's first broadcast on the network.
 
Dingle Named A-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, DeWolfe and Downey Also Earn Year-End Awards
Asiah Dingle became the second Ram in program history to earn the award, after G'mrice Davis in 2018, while also being named First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive. Anna DeWolfe made it three consecutive years on the First Team, a program record in the A-10 era and just the second time in program history, after Sharon Nast from 1984-86 in the MAAC. They are the second Fordham duo to be on the First Team together since Bre Cavanaugh and Mary Goulding in 2019. Kaitlyn Downey expanded her program record with her third consecutive All-Academic accolade, as well. Read more here.
 
Four Rams Named CSC Academic All-District
Formerly named CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), the newly rebranded College Sports Communicators has revamped its Academic All-District model, allowing up to four nominees per school as long as the student-athlete has a 3.5 GPA and has played in 50% of the team's games on the year. Fordham had exactly four eligible players – Kaitlyn Downey, Megan Jonassen, Sarah Karpell, and Colleen McQuillen all earned their first All-District honors on Tuesday afternoon. For Downey, it's not her first rodeo, already being named A-10 All-Academic each of the past two years. Read more here.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams suffered a 70-65 defeat in the A-10 Championship quarterfinals against #5 Richmond on March 3rd. Asiah Dingle nearly willed her team to victory with 25 points, on 10-of-21 shooting, nine rebounds, and four steals. Fordham was dominant in the first quarter, especially after the first media timeout, holding the Spiders to 2-of-16 shooting and carrying a 19-5 lead into the second period. Richmond rebounded and then some, however, shooting nearly 70% from the field and scoring 22 points, yet still trailed by five, 33-28, at the interval. It was more of the same from the Spiders in the third as the two teams traded baskets and combined for 41 points in the quarter. The score was tied, 51-51, after 30 minutes, and the fourth's first bucket, a Grace Townsend layup, proved to be the go-ahead point as they steadily built up a nine-point lead then withstood a late charge for the win.
 
Series History
Fordham holds a 3-1 record against the Dragons since 1986. That first meeting, an 88-83 Drexel win in Philadelphia, preceded a pair of Ram wins in December of both '86 and '87. The most recent contest was also in the WNIT, in the second round in 2018, a 63-60 win in Philly. Bre Cavanaugh, then a redshirt-freshman, scored 32 points as the Rams rallied from a halftime deficit to win late in the contest. Assistant coach Lauren Holden posted five points and four assists while playing all 40 minutes.
 
Iron Women
Kaitlyn Downey broke the program record for career starts at Saint Joseph's, her 127th, in her 133rd consecutive appearance, now up to 137 starts. She's never missed a game in her career, now third all-time with 143 since arriving in the Bronx. Anna DeWolfe, similarly, has made 109 consecutive starts, never missing a game. Sarah Karpell made her 100th appearance at St. Bonaventure and Asiah Dingle, with 139, and Jada Dapaa, with 117, are over the century mark in their careers, as well. Megan Jonassen was also up to 129 before her season-ending injury.
 
Nationally Speaking
Fordham have played at a much faster tempo this season, averaging 72.3 points per contest, which ranks 53rd in the nation. The offense's 1.14 assist/turnover ratio, third in the Atlantic 10, sits 34th nationally, with the 37th-most assists per game (15.7). From behind the arc, the Rams are 48th with 7.7 threes per game. The squad is committing just 13.8 turnovers per contest, ranked 63rd, with the 40th-best turnover margin (3.83). The offense is also hitting free throws at the 23rd-best rate (77.6%) despite taking the 347th-fewest attempts (10.9).
 
Individually, Asiah Dingle is fourth in steals per game, 22nd in field goals, and 26th in points per game. Anna DeWolfe is 36th in points per game, 32nd in field goals, 53rd in total threes, 47th in threes per game, and 36th in minutes per game.
 
Where Do The 2022-23 Rams Stand in Program History?
Playing at a much faster tempo this season has pushed Fordham high up several program statistical lists. Their 72.3 points per game average ranking third and 2,169 total points ranking fourth all-time being the best examples. The Rams are currently third in three-pointers (232), third in field goals (842), and fifth in steals (272). The offense's 77.6% free-throw rate is also second-best and their 1.14 assist/turnover ratio is third-highest. 
 
Three 1,000-Point Scorers
With her tough turnaround second-quarter jumper at Princeton, Kaitlyn Downey became the 25th Ram to score 1,000 points in program history. Now 12th with 1,276 point, she joins Asiah Dingle (2,026 across three schools, 1,005 with Fordham, and five seasons) and Anna DeWolfe (1,840 - third-most in school history). Nationally, the Rams are one of 12 schools with three active student-athletes with 1,000 career points, although they are one of only two mid-major schools, along with UMass. Virginia Tech has four 1,000-point scorers.
 
Hungry Like DeWolfe
The 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year and two-time WBCA All-America honorable mention, senior Anna DeWolfe is averaging 18.2 points per game on 41.6% shooting overall and 35.4% shooting from distance (75-of-212). Now a three-time First Team All-Conference selection, she became the 24th Ram to reach 1,000 career points on December 12, 2021 against Lafayette, doing so on a patented mid-range jumper, hitting nothing but net, and is now up to third all-time with 1,840 points.
 
For her career, across 109 consecutive starts, DeWolfe is third with 722 field goals, second with 234 three-pointers, fifth with a career 16.9 per-game scoring average, eighth with a 83.5% rate the line, and fourth with 4,014 minutes played. Her 75 threes this season are fifth-most, her 214 field goals ninth-most.
 
Dingle All The Way
The Boston native is up to 139 career appearances across three schools and five seasons, now with 121 career starts, starting all but one contest for Fordham since she arrived. Last year a Third Team All-Conference selection and now a First Team honoree, Dingle leads the team and league in scoring (19.3 points), assists (96), and steals (105), while shooting 44.3% from the floor, 33.6% from behind the arc, and 77.1% on a team-high 118 free-throw attempts. Her 105 steals has broken Mary Hayes' long-standing record of 100, set in 1978, and she is already joint-seventh in program history with 171 thefts in just 59 games (2.9 average, also a school record).
 
For her career, she has accumulated 2,026 points, averaging 14.6 per game, 732 field goals, 331 steals, and a 432 assist/449 turnover ratio. She is a 42.9% career shooting with averages of 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. Prior to her arrival in the Bronx, Dingle was a 19.2% three-point shooter on 104 career attempts. Last year she shot 18-of-64 (28.1%) and has continued to work at her long-range shot, shooting 33.6% this year on a career-high 125 attempts.
 
Dingle leads all active Division I players in steals by a whopping 23, ahead of Gardner-Webb's Jhessyka Williams in second. She's also eighth in free throw attempts, ninth in steal average, 14th in free throws made, and 22nd in points.
 
Princess Of Thieves
Asiah Dingle played in her 50th Fordham game against Richmond, where she totaled eight steals, tied for second-most in program history. She, of course, owns the record, too, set early this year against Saint Peter's, with 10, and now holds the single-season record with 105. Dingle is Division I's active leader in steals by a whopping 23, with 331. She has at least one steal in all but two contests this year and at least two in all but four, with 17 instances of four or more. Last year she had eight such games and is up to 38 for her five-year career.
 
Downey Moving Up
The graduate forward broke the program record at Saint Joseph's for career starts, with 127, surpassing Samantha Clark ('17), and has now appeared in 143 consecutive contests since arriving in the Bronx, third-most all-time. At Princeton earlier this season, she became the 25th Ram to reach 1,000 career points. She's up to 12th now with 1,276, is fifth 895 career rebounds, fifth with 220 three-pointers, and 10th with 91 blocks.
 
Dapper Dapaa
Graduate transfer Jada Dapaa broke out in a massive way last year for the Saint Francis, corralling more defensive rebounds than any other player in the league had total rebounds, averaging 12.6 total boards, ranked third nationally, with 12 double-doubles, including eight straight to end the season, and setting a program record with 378 total rebounds. She was named the NEC's Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. She's been terrific all year but especially with Megan Jonassen out. For the year, she leads the team with 8.0 rebounds, chipping in 7.8 points. In her 17 appearances prior to Jonassen's injury, Dapaa averaged 7.1 points, while shooting 46.2%, and 7.6 rebounds across 23.3 minutes. Since the injury, Dapaa has started all 11 games and is contributing 9.6 points on 51.2% shooting and 9.2 rebounds with 12 steals over 29.2 minutes. She scored a season-high 17 against Rhode Island towards the end of the season, has nine double-digit rebound games, and three double-doubles.
 
Up Next
A win will see Fordham pitted against either Columbia or Fairleigh Dickinson. The WNIT will not announce future match-ups until the games are complete, so expect to find out the Rams' next opponent and when they'll play on Friday night.