NEW YORK – Opening their quest for the 2025 Atlantic 10 Championship Thursday morning, Fordham University women's basketball takes on No. 9 Duquesne in the second round of the league tournament.
Turn Up and Tune In
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The Rams and Dukes square off at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN+ from the Henrico Sports and Events Center
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Hitting the road with the Rams, Chris Carrino and Tucker Austin bring fans the action from the A-10 Championship with the WFUV Radio call via YouTube Live.
Rams at a Glance
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Fordham (15-14, 9-9 A-10) closed the regular season .500 or better in league play for the 12th time in the last 13 years, and ended the regular season above .500 overall for the eighth time in the last nine seasons as well.
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Fordham and Duquesne will meet for the third time this season Thursday morning, with the Rams taking the prior two meetings, 64-62 on a buzzer beater on Jan. 5 in Pittsburgh, and a 56-53 win in The Bronx, just over two weeks ago.
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The Rams have limited seven of their last 11 opponents to under 60 points, and have held 15 different teams this season to 59 points and held La Salle under 60 in both meetings this season.
By the Numbers
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56 - Fordham has only allowed more than 56 points scored four times in any of their 15 wins on the year, holding two teams below 50, limiting St. Bonaventure to 49 points, and holding LIU to a season-low 43 points on Dec. 8.
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60 - The magic number to victory this season, the Rams Rams are 12-3 this season in games where they've scored at least 60 points, but sit at just 2-10 in games where their opponents reach that same plateau.
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6 - Six different Rams enter the weekend averaging at least 3.1 rebounds per game.
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11 - The Rams went the first 11 games of the year without allowing 70 or more points to any opponent.
Where the Rams Rank
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Fordham has crashed the offensive glass all season long, leading the A-10, sitting 15th best in the entire nation averaging 15.1 offensive rebounds per game.
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On top of their dominance on the offensive glass, the Rams overall have pulled down 38.72 total rebounds per game, placing the Rams second in the A-10 and 73rd in the nation.
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Defensively, Fordham sits 67th in the NCAA and third in the A-10 forcing 18.62 turnovers per game.
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The Maroon and White have also picked 9.0 steals per game, fifth most of any team in the league and 91st in the nation.
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Allowing just 60.5 points per game to opponents, the Rams hold the eighth best scoring defense in the A-10, good for 93rd best in Division I.
Leading the Herd
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Pacing the offense and ranked fourth in the A-10 at 16.3 points per game, Donaldson enters the weekend leading the conference averaging 2.63 three pointers made per game, 24th best of any player in the nation, and sits third in the A-10 with 2.04 steals per game.
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Irene Murua leads the team and sits second in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 55.1% from the field this season.
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Murua also paces the Rams on the glass, pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game, continuing to place her 13th best in the conference, while also averaging 3.4 per game on the offensive end.
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Taya Davis leads the team with 4.7 assists per game, tied for second best in the A-10 and 56th best of all players in the nation.
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Chaé Harris has been consistent whether in the starting five or coming off the bench, making 16 starts while averaging 9.2 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game.
Donaldson Third Team All-Conference
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Named an All-Conference selection for the second time in as many years, Fordham saw Taylor Donaldson earn a spot on the Atlantic 10 Third Team All-League roster Tuesday afternoon.
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Donaldson helps to lead the Rams into the A-10 tournament, pacing the Rams in scoring in 15 of her 24 games played this season. In her second year in Maroon and White, Donaldson took home league honors for the second straight year, following three years at New Mexico State.
Matchup History
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With their first two meetings decided by just a combined five points, Fordham holds a 2-0 edge over Duquesne this season, though the Dukes own a 23-14 lead in the all-time series.
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Tied at 62 with three seconds to go on Jan. 5, the sharpshooting Irene Murua fought her way through a pair of Duquesne defenders as time expired, lifting the Rams to a 64-62 win in Pittsburgh.
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In a regulation slugfest that lasted over 2.5 hours, the Rams overcame a halftime deficit to take back the lead midway through the fourth, fighting off a late rally by the Dukes and forcing a turnover in the closing seconds, before the game winning shot.
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In the second meeting on Feb. 19, the Rams and Dukes traded bucket for bucket from the opening tip to the final horn, with Fordham sweeping the season series with Duquesne in a 56-53 thriller at the Rose Hill Gym.
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A game that saw nine ties, and the lead changed hands 15 times throughout the night, neither side pulled ahead by more than eight points at any point in the game, and neither garnered more than a seven-point scoring run at any point in the game.
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A true end-to-end thriller, the two sides spent nearly 10 full minutes of game action tied, with Fordham surging back with the help of 33 points off the bench, compared to just 12 by Duquesne.
Dueling with Duquesne
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Ending the regular season at 18-11, 9-9 in league play, Duquesne fell to George Mason on the road in the regular season finale after winning three of four heading into that game
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Megan McConnell continues to lead the Dukes this season as the only women's college basketball player in the country to have surpassed 500 points, 200 rebounds, 100 assists, and 100 steals this season, and is one of just five finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award.
Last Time Out
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Despite rallying back to draw level midway through the fourth quarter, a strong effort by the home side late saw the Rams fall at Davidson, 64-52 Saturday afternoon.
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After a slow start to the first, a Fordham rally in the second quarter made it just a two possession game at the break Saturday afternoon in the Old North State.
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A back-and-forth third quarter was followed by a strong start by the Rams to draw level, before Davidson surged down the stretch to pull away and earn itself a double-bye in the A-10 championship.
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Leading the scoring for Fordham on the afternoon, Taylor Donaldson finished with 17 points and Irene Murua tallied 16 including 7-of-7 makes from the charity stripe, and also paced the rebounding and assists numbers with eight and three respectively.
Next Stop
