New York, N.Y. – Fordham women's basketball's 2022-23 season came to an end in a wild, back-and-forth game Monday night in the second round of the WNIT at Columbia, 78-73. The Rams finish their campaign with a 19-13 record.
Fordham laid it all out on the floor inside Levien Gymnasium in front of a nearly 50/50 crowd. The Rams fell behind after the opening quarter and rallied with a 19-point second to lead, 33-31, at halftime. The two teams combined for 54 points in an exhilarating third period to head into the final frame tied, 59-59. The Rams' two-way play in the middle of the fourth helped push them ahead by five, 71-66, with four minutes to play, but the Lions roared back with a 6-0 run then responded to a late
Kaitlyn Downey bucket with a putback layup and saw out the game at the line.
Anna DeWolfe, with a game-high 21 points, and
Asiah Dingle, with 20, each shot 9-of-25 from the field, the latter also grabbing 10 rebounds and assisting on four baskets.
Jada Dapaa was immense before fouling out, recording 16 points, eight boards, three steals, and two assists over a season-high 34 minutes.
DeWolfe and Dingle combined for Fordham's first 11 points before Dapaa drained a midrange two to give her team an early 13-12 lead with four minutes left in the first. Columbia clamped down on defense and used a 6-0 run to retake the lead heading into the second, where Jaida Patrick's hit two early treys to grow the Lions' lead to its largest, 24-16. DeWolfe netted five quick points and a Dapaa cut the deficit to one with an offensive rebound and layup. After Dapaa put Fordham back ahead, the hosts replied with five unanswered through Kaitlyn Davis. The visitors closed the half with an 8-2 run over the final three minutes, starting with a
Colleen McQuillen three and going ahead via a
Sarah Karpell three-point play.
Dueling three-pointers, one from Hannah Pratt and the other by
Asiah Dingle, set the tone for the third quarter. The Rams shot 60.0% from the field with a pair of triples and went 6-of-6 from the line, while the Lions shot 55.0% with four threes, but went 2-of-5 from the stripe. Fordham began the quarter on a 13-7 run but Columbia would get back within one at the media timeout, 48-47, and retake the lead a minute later on a Sienna Durr layup. Free throws from Dapaa and a coast-to-coast Dingle basket were answered by an Abbey Hsu three to lead to yet another tie. The period finished on more dueling threes, one from Pratt and the other from DeWolfe, free throws from Patrick and Karpell, and points in the paint from Hsu and Dingle, with the score tied, 59-59, heading into the final 10 minutes.
DeWolfe and Dingle combined to establish a four-point lead early in the period before the scoring slowed. Pratt hit another three to get within one, 65-64, and the Lions went ahead through a Davis layup. On the other end,
Matilda Flood answered with a driving layup, giving Fordham a one-point lead at the penultimate media timeout. Out of the break, Dapaa knocked down two more freebies and Dingle converted in the paint following a Karpell o-board to put the visitors up, 71-66, at the final media timeout. Fordham had a couple looks on its next four possessions but couldn't convert as Columbia went ahead using a 6-0 run, culminating in a 72-71 advantage with 1:10 to play.
On the in-bounds play, two misses preceded two offensive boards, leading to Downey's jumper in the paint, putting Fordham ahead with 27 seconds to go. It was similar for the Lions on theirs as Davis caught her own miss and put it back up while getting 'fouled' by Flood. The Rams couldn't get their final couple attempts to drop as Columbia saw out the contest at the line.
Karpell notched nine points, four assists, three boards, and a steal over 34 minutes, while Dapaa shot 5-of-8 from the floor and hit all six free-throw attempts. Downey added five rebounds with her two points, while McQuillen added a steal and a block to her line.
