SPORTS EDITOR

 Though most students were opening presents and enjoying the semester break, Fordham’s women’s basketball team won six of its seven games while school was out of session. The Rams, in three years under head coach Stephanie Gaitley, have quickly become one of Rose Hill’s most reliably successful programs.

The Rams have begun the new year with a 4-2 record in A-10 Conference play. (Ram Archives)

A Jan. 5 win at conference opponent UMass gave Fordham its historic 12th straight win. That was not the only historic moment that night, however, as the game played host to senior guard Abigail Corning’s 1000th point. Corning, who needed just 20 points heading into the game to achieve the feat, did just that, scoring 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

“I’ve coached a lot of good players, but I have to say, I think Abigail is the hardest working kid,” Gaitley said. “It’s rewarding when any of your players reach that milestone, but the fact that it’s somebody that I think of as ‘the little engine that could,’ it’s even more rewarding.”

Corning, who also scored 1000 points at Wethersfield High School in Connecticut, was equally excited about the achievement.

“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment for me,” Corning said. “Coming in freshman year, I never would have expected to score that many points. It’s really exciting for me.”

After splitting their first two home conference games, losing to Duquesne 65-61 after almost mounting an epic comeback and beating Richmond 70-59, the Rams traveled down to a strong Virginia Commonwealth team (also the Rams), that was 15-2 entering the game against Fordham.

Fordham found itself down nine points with only two and a half minutes left, on the road, staring an early second conference loss in the face.

But the Rams from the Bronx were not about to give up. A quick three from Corning cut the lead to six with 2:20 remaining. Following a couple scoreless possessions by both teams, senior guard Erin Rooney was able to get to the free throw line and sink two shots. The lead was down to four with just over 1:20 to play.

Gaitley and Fordham chose to foul immediately, sending VCU’s Isis Thorpe to the line. After Thorpe hit just one of two, the door was still open for Fordham. Sharpshooting freshman Hannah Missry did what she does best on the next possession, nailing a three pointer to cut VCU’s lead to two with 1:15 to go.

After the home team missed a three point attempt, Fordham had the ball with the chance to take the lead for the first time in over 12 minutes of play, and it did just that. Missry hit another three-pointer, her fifth of the day, to give the Rams a one point lead.

Fordham would not look back after gaining the lead, stopping VCU on three of its last four possessions and claiming a big road conference win, 76-73.

Gaitley knows exactly why her team was able to pull off such an amazing comeback.

“At the eight minute timeout in the Duquesne game, when we were down 16 or 17 at the time, it was the first time I saw doubt in [the players’] eyes,” Gaitley said. “We hadn’t played a lot of games where we were down. I think the Duquesne game, and the comeback we had there, prepared us for the VCU victory.”

Not only did Fordham hand VCU its first home loss of the year, but in the game, Erin Rooney became the first Ram to get a triple-double since February of 1992, when Kelly Roche achieved the feat. Rooney had 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, continuing her tremendous senior season on the court.

“What’s so funny about that game is that when you were watching her play, you felt like she was having one of her off-games,” Gaitley said. “It wasn’t until the end of the game when you realized how she filled up the stat sheet, and then you were like ‘wow.’”

Rooney, who is averaging 19.4 points per game, is second in the Atlantic 10, behind only Robyn Parks of VCU. She is also seventh in the conference in rebounds per game with 7.9 and fifth in assists per game with 4.7.

After the emotional win at VCU, Fordham traveled to perennial conference juggernaut Dayton. The Flyers entered the game 10-4 on the year, but a perfect 3-0 in conference.

Last year, Dayton came to Rose Hill nationally ranked and defeated the Rams 68-57. This year, Fordham hoped to prove that it was the new class of the conference. Through 37 minutes, Fordham was doing just that. However, a 10-0 run with three minutes remaining that started with Fordham up one and ended with Dayton leading by nine put Fordham too far behind to overcome. Dayton came away with its 11th victory, and a perfect 4-0 conference record.

“If it was a 35 minute game, we win that game,” Gaitley said. “But it’s a 40 minute game and we got to learn to finish games off.”

Rooney had another spectacular day. She provided Fordham with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and played the entire game along with her backcourt companion Corning, who had 19 points and nine rebounds herself.

But, 13 turnovers between the both of them, and 20 total turnovers from the Rams gave Dayton the advantage it needed to win the game.

“The turnovers, a chunk of them, came from our seniors,” Gaitley said. “Part of it is because Erin and Abigail are going 40 minutes and we ask a lot from them. I think they have to realize that when you’re tired, you have to focus and concentrate on doing the small things better.”

Even though the trip to Dayton resulted in a loss, it gave Fordham confidence going forward.

“We can definitely win our conference,” Corning said. “We’ve hung with all of the top teams that we’ve played. We went on the road [to Dayton] and took them down to the wire. It wasn’t a nine-point game. We just have to grow as a team and learn from our mistakes so we don’t make them again.”

Fordham now sits at 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the A-10, which is good enough for fifth in the tightly contested conference. The Rams host UMass on Jan. 25 and then face Rhode Island on Jan. 29, at Rose Hill.

Categories: Basketball, Sports