PHILADELPHIA – A free-throw frenzy throughout the second half Wednesday night, Fordham University women's basketball fell at Saint Joseph's, 72-65 in Philadelphia.
A clean contest for much of the first half, neither side attempted a free-throw in the opening 20 minutes, with the teams combining for just nine team fouls to that point. The game ended with a combined 46 fouls and 57 shots taken from the charity stripe, with St. Joe's shooting 25-of-35, and the Rams outshooting their opponents percentage-wise, making 17-of-22 tries from the line.
Wednesday saw a pair of Rams finish in double figures led by 19 points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals from Chaé Harris, along with Taya Davis adding 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Fordham falls to 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play, 10-7 overall on the year, snapping a four-game win streak, tied for the longest this season, while St. Joe's improves to 13-4 on the year and 4-2 in league action.
For the second game in a row, the Rams broke out to an early lead, extending a 10-3 run right out of the gates Wednesday night. The Hawks battled back late in the opening frame, but Fordham held a 14-12 lead after one quarter of play.
St. Joe's leveled the score at 18-all at the media timeout of the second quarter, leaving 4:56 to play in the first half. Fordham pulled ahead by a pair just before halftime, and Camila De Pool made it a five point lead, sinking a buzzer-beater from just inside midcourt, to make it 28-23 at the break.
Coming out of the locker room the home side rattled off a quick run to pull ahead, and hold the lead for the remainder of the second half. Fordham drew level one last time at 35-all, and kept pace with the Hawks throughout the final two quarters, but were unable to pull back ahead, trailing 43-41 heading to the fourth.
Taking a seven point lead to open the final period, St. Joe's held a two possession lead the rest of the way, ahead of a free throw frenzy late, with a combined 15 free throws made in the final two minutes to set the final scoreline.
Fordham will look to bounce back with a return to The Bronx Saturday for the Centennial Celebration of the Rose Hill Gym against Dayton at 2:00 p.m.
