Women’s Basketball Travels to Rhode Island, UMass this Weekend
Rhode Island: Watch | Listen |Live Stats
UMass: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Twitter Updates on @FordhamWBB
Game Notes
Bronx, N.Y. – The Rams (5-2, 2-1) are back on the road for the first time in over a month this weekend with two Atlantic 10 games, first at Rhode Island (2-4, 2-1) on Friday at 4 p.m. and then Massachusetts (6-2, 2-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ways to follow along with all the action are above.
50th Anniversary
This campaign is the 50th varsity season for the Fordham women’s basketball program and Fordham Athletics will be celebrating all five decades throughout the year! See this release for more information, plus check out the influential 1970’s All-Decade Team and high-scoring 1980’s All-Decade Team!
Fordham WBB Virtual Gameday Experience
With the unfortunate reality that our RAMily won’t be allowed to be there live in the Rose Hill Gym or supporting us on the road for the foreseeable future, Fordham Athletics is proud to announce virtual gameday experiences for select contests, home and away! Read all about it and register HERE.
We have had a big turnout for our first two Virtual Gamedays (Hofstra and George Washington) and our NEXT one is coming up soon! Make sure to register at the link above to participate!
Last Time Out
Fordham and George Washington was an evenly contested affair, as usual, on Sunday afternoon, with the Rams controlling the lead for the majority of the game. The Colonials rallied late to take a brief lead and tie the game up again in the final minutes, but an Anna DeWolfe three-pointer with 54 seconds to play proved to be the difference. Read all about it HERE.
Series History vs. Rhode Island
The Rams are 20-19 all-time over their fellow Rams since 1981. All but two contests have come since 1996 when Fordham joined the Atlantic 10. Rhody has led the series the entire way until last year’s 10-point win at home in February. URI won the first meeting, 72-39, in 1981 in the Bronx and 79-68 in Kingston one year later. Fordham’s first win came on the road, 73-66, in 1997. Starting with a 53-47 win at home on January 23, 2010, the Rams have won 11 of 12 straight contests, outside of a 71-56 road loss in 2015.
Series History vs. Massachusetts
Exactly like Fordham’s history with Rhody, the Minutewomen dominated the first half of the all-time series with the Rams, which began with an 81-63 Fordham win at the 1980 AIAW Eastern Regional Tournament. Fordham won three of the five meetings prior to joining the Atlantic 10 in 1996, all coming in the 1980’s, but the Minutewomen won 10 of the first 11 league meetings between the two schools and, ultimately, 19 of 25 from 1996 to 2010. However, beginning the following year, the season before Coach Gaitley’s hire, Fordham began a winning streak that has now grown to 13 consecutive victories over its rival, including last February’s 69-64 win on the road.
Hungry Like DeWolfe
Sophomore captain Anna DeWolfe is 24th in all of Division I in scoring with 22.0 points per game through seven contests. Following a stellar season debut with 25 points at Stony Brook, the Cumberland, Maine native has recorded games of 23, 34, 14, 21, 18, and 21 points, crossing the 500-point threshold for her career against Albany. She continues to impress for the Rams ever since debuting by nearly triple-doubling against #16 Notre Dame in last year’s season opener (10 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) in front of a record sold out Rose Hill Gym.
DeWolfe is shooting 44.4% from the floor and 36.4% from deep and leads the team with 22 assists and 10 steals. A three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week honoree and a member of the All-Rookie team, she was named to the preseason Third Team this Fall by the league’s coaches. DeWolfe led all freshmen nationally last year with 1,152 minutes played, ranked 13th overall, and is up to 19th among her peers this year with 37.9 minutes per contest.
Chairwomen of the Boards
Fordham has been beastly on the boards to begin the year, averaging 40.0 per contest and with the 14th-highest rebounding margin in the country (13.4), holding opponents just 26.6 boards. The Rams have grabbed 89-of-280 rebounds on the offensive glass, or 31.8%, and have five players with at least nine offensive boards, led by junior Megan Jonassen’s 30 (out of 52) and joined by Katie McLoughlin (13) and Sarah Karpell (9), while Kaitlyn Downey has 14 and freshman Matilda Flood has 10. Downey is 10th in the country with 11.7 rebounds per game and third overall with 9.7 defensive boards per game. Jonassen’s 4.3 o-boards per game rank 18th. For their careers, Jonassen (143-of-254) and McLoughlin (27-of-43) have more offensive rebounds than defensive. Fordham now has three players averaging over seven boards per game this season.
Lucky Number Seven
Senior Kendell Heremaia has racked up 820 points, 548 rebounds, 214 assists, and 94 steals during her Fordham career to-date. That puts her in some illustrious company among Rams that have reached the 800-point, 500-rebound, 200-assist, 100-steal plateaus, which Heremaia will cross soon with her 100th steal. Only six others have done it, most recently Samantha Clark (’16), but also featuring Becky Peters (’12) and Abigail Corning (’14) that have played under Coach Gaitley. Among that group, Heremaia has the fewest points but the fifth-most rebound and fourth-most assists already.
Nationally Speaking (as of 1/6)
It’s never too early to take a look at where Fordham and its players stand on the national landscape. Per-game statistics take on even more significance this year during the ongoing pandemic. That said, the Rams are 14th in the country in rebounding margin (+13.4), 18th in scoring defense (54.0), and 50th in three-pointers per game (8.0) and 56th in percentage (35.9%).
At the individual level, DeWolfe’s 22.0 points per game ranks 24th in the country. She is 41st in attempts (126), 58th in makes (56), and 19th in minutes played (37.9). Downey is third in the nation with 9.7 defensive rebounds per game and 10th with 11.7 overall per contest. Jonassen’s 4.3 offensive rebounds per game are 18th-most in the nation and tops in the A-10.
This Is Our House
Since Gaitley took over before the 2011-12 season, the Rams hold a 117-32 (78.5%) record at home across 149 contests. Over the last four-plus seasons, the Rams are 61-12 in the Rose Hill Gym, including a 29-6 mark in conference play and three straight Holiday Classic crowns. A 15-game win streak ended earlier this season against Davidson but the Rams have rattled off three straight over the past two weeks.
DeWolfe Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Anna DeWolfe was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week during halftime of the Davidson game, the first time she’s won the honor in her career. She earned it by scoring a career-high 34 points against Hofstra on December 18.
Downey Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Though DeWolfe also had a fair shout, it was Downey who claimed her first-ever Atlantic 10 award, deservedly so after a 16-point, 20-rebound double-double at Stony Brook. The 20 boards were tied for the seventh-most in a road or neutral contest and joint-11th in any game, while she became just the seventh Ram to ever reach 20 rebounds in a game.
Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
The Rams were predicted to finish in a tie for fourth in the annual A-10 preseason coaches poll. On the individual side, senior Kendell Heremaia was predicted to improve from last year’s Third Team All-Conference selection to this year’s Second Team, while sophomore captain Anna DeWolfe was viewed the same way, but from the All-Rookie team to the Third Team.
Class of 2025
Head coach Stephanie Gaitley announced her four-player 2021 recruiting class last month, saying “we are super excited about this class… we really believe this group could leave a special mark on our program.” The class is comprised of 5’10 guard Colleen McQuillen (Cresskill, N.J.), 6’2 forward Millie Prior (New South Wales, Australia), 5’9 guard Sophia Sabino (Rumson, N.J.), and 5’10 guard Lexie Tarul (Bronx, N.Y.).
Up Next
Fordham continues on to Massachusetts on Sunday for a 1 p.m. meeting. Next Thursday’s game at Saint Louis has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Billikens program. The league and schools are looking for alternatives for that open spot now, but Fordham will still play at Dayton on Saturday, January 16, regardless.