NEW YORK – Kicking off the second season under Head Coach Bridgette Mitchell, Fordham University women's basketball opens the 2024-25 season Monday night at the Historic Rose Hill Gymnasium, hosting Adelphi.
Tune In
The Rams will take on the Panthers on the opening night of college basketball across the nation, with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+.
Centennial Celly
Opened on January 16, 1925, the Rose Hill Gymnasium is celebrating its Centennial season, and throughout the 2024-24 academic season Fordham Athletics and the entire University community will celebrate the history of the historic collegiate facility, one of the oldest in the entire NCAA.
Matchup Notes
The Bridgette Michell era at Fordham kicked off just under a year ago, against the Adelphi Panthers, as the Rams took a 70-43 victory at the Rose Hill Gym. Taylor Donaldson would finish second on the team in scoring that night, her Fordham debut, sinking five shots for 12 points along with four rebounds. The Rams' defense also held the Panthers to just 1-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Rams hold a 7-1 all-time mark against Adelphi, with last season being the first time the two had faced off in almost 40 years, back when Fordham competed at the Division II level. The lone win for the Panthers came back on Feb. 17, 1982, 65-59 in The Bronx, with just two of the eight prior meetings being held in Garden City.
About Adelphi
Finishing last season 7-22 overall (5-17 Northeast-10) the Panthers averaged 54.9 points per game, shooting 34.8% as a team. Adelphi pulled down and even 34.0 rebounds per contest, while on the defensive end, also gathered 8.1 steals per game and sent back 4.3 blocks per game.
Back at it in the Boogie Down
In their first season under the direction of Coach Mitchell, the Rams tallied the most wins by a first-year Fordham head coach in nearly 30 years, as the Rams went 13-17 (8-10 A-10). Rattling off a plethora of wins down the stretch in the regular season, the Rams would go down to the wire in the A-10 Tournament, falling one point shy of a trip to the quarterfinals to Loyola Chicago.
Mitchell's Rams paced the league all season long on the defensive end, finishing first in the A-10 with 9.7 steals per game as a team, 49th best in the nation, with five different Rams ending the year averaging above 1.3 steals per game individually. That effort in the passing lanes also helped Fordham finish third in the conference in turnovers forced per game, getting their opponents to cough it up at an average of 17.79 times per game.
She's Baaack
Taylor Donaldson stole the show the second she first donned a Fordham uniform, not only leading the Rams, but the entire Atlantic 10 in both points per game and second in the league in steals per game, earning Second Team All-Conference and All-MET honors at season's end. Following her stellar senior campaign, Donaldson elected to return for a fifth season, and will look to lead the Maroon and White once again this year.
Another key member of the Rams' backcourt last season, Taya Davis was often Coach Mitchell's first call off the bench when she wasn't in the starting five, utilizing her size to drive the paint and create space for her squad. Davis posted the most assists of any Ram last season, dishing out 3.4 assists per game, along with 3.3 rebounds per game and finished as one of five Rams to average over 1.3 steals for the year.
Posting 3.5 rebounds per game for the Rams last season, Rose Nelson provided key height under the basket creating opportunities for her teammates from beyond the arc as well, dishing out 26 assists for an even 1.0 per game.
Always a threat off the ball, Kaila Berry looks to make an increased impact on the floor this season, as despite averaging just 6.0 minutes per game over 22 games played, would post 2.0 points per game. She would shoot an efficient 65.4% from the floor, and pulled down 1.5 rebounds per game, splitting her boards evenly with 16 apiece on the offensive and defensive ends.
New Rams on the Block
A rising junior out of Snellville, Ga. Chaé Harris arrives on Rose Hill after spending her first two years at Appalachian State. An athletic wing scorer that will provide a key offensive threat for the Rams at the forward spot, Harris averaged 7.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season while averaging just 15 minutes of play.
Listed as a true-center at an even 6'0 tall, Irene Murua comes to Rose Hill as a graduate transfer from Detroit Mercy, where she spent the final three seasons of her undergraduate career after playing at LA Tech as a freshman. In just three seasons in Motown, Murua tallied over 1,000 career points, earning a reputation as a true back to the basket center. A career 51% shooter from the floor, she averaged 11.2 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game a season ago.
Playing at home in The Bronx, Emma Wilson-Santos will join the Rams as a junior transfer out of Monroe College, where she lit up the floor a season ago averaging a double-double with 14.4 points per game, and 11.9 rebounds per game. Scoring nearly 700 points in her two seasons with the Mustangs, she shot 46% over that span, while pulling down 574 rebounds, including more than 350 last season. At 5 '11 Wilson-Santos will provide further depth at the forward and center spots for the Rams, while also helping in the passing lanes, as she collected 99 steals in her two seasons, including 58 a year ago.
The No. 5 recruit out of South Carolina in the Class of 2023, Amiyah Ferguson joins the Rams after spending her rookie campaign at Cal State Northridge, finishing second on the team in scoring. Last season Ferguson would tally over 200 points, averaging 8.78 per game, while also dishing out 60 assists and 25 steals. She would record a career high 21 points, connecting on 6-of-8 three point attempts on the road at UCLA.
Hey Rookies
A well decorated player out of Fayetteville, N.C. Maya Giles-Jones finished her high school career as a four-time conference Player of the Year, two-time district Player of the Year, four-time All-State honoree, four-time All-District First Team selection, and 910 Female Player of the Year as a sophomore. She wrapped a decorated high school career at Terry Sanford, culminating in being a McDonald's All-American nominee, entering the 2024-25 campaign as a redshirt freshman after missing last season rehabbing from an injury.
Crossing the pond from London, England, Precious Omoshola played her high school ball at two schools, first for Riverside Sixthform in Barking, UK, where she won a London Basketball Association (LBA) MVP and Gold in 2022. A 6'3" forward, Omoshola set her career-high with an impressive 69-point performance during the 2021 campaign, Omoshola spent the spring semester at Fordham, and represented her native Great Britain on the U-20 National Team at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket this summer.
An Under Armour Future 60 Selection, Karissa Antoine comes to Fordham from just north of the Empire State capital in Pattersonville, following a successful high school career that saw her play all four seasons on the varsity squad for the Schalmont Sabers. Antoine will be chasing the school's all-time points record of 2,023 points as she enters her senior campaign, currently sitting with 1,398 career points in her first three seasons. Winning a Varsity Women's Basketball State Championship during her tenure, Antoine was a three-time Class B All-Star selection, tallying over 1000 points in her career.
A 5 '7 combo guard out of Kissimmee, Fla., Camila De Pool will join the Rams next season as a true freshman, known for her ability to drive and attack the basket on offense. Despite coming to the Big Apple as a freshman, De Pool has honed her game down in Puerto Rico, where she was born, and currently plays with the Puerto Rican National Team, where she has averaged 9.0 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, and 1.0 assists per game, and featured on the U-18 PR squad for the 2024 FIBA AmeriCup last summer.
Bringing more international talent to the Rams' lineup next season, Anastasija Veljovic checks in with some height at the guard spot, at 5'11' from Mississauga, ON, Canada. She arrives in the Five Boroughs as a two time selection to the BioSteel All-Canadian Games where she featured in the Nike Next Ones Up regional game, which features some of the top Canadian high school basketball players. Veljovic was Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA) second team honoree following the 2021-22 campaign, and was a team MVP for her high school team, and a JUEL MVP with Monarchs Basketball.
Next Stop
The Rams host their second straight game to open the season this Friday, taking on Cal St. Fullerton at 7:30 p.m. at the Rose Hill Gym.
