By MATT ROSENFELD
SPORTS EDITOR

Fordham has just four games left in the regular season. The Rams’ next home game is Feb. 15 against La Salle. (SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM)

Conference wins are never easy to come by, especially in this year’s Atlantic 10. The conference features eight teams with winning records, five of which have only six or fewwer losses. That is why Fordham’s wins this past week over Saint Louis University and George Washington University are so important. And why Tuesday night’s loss in Richmond could end up hurting the Rams come conference tournament time.

“There’s so much parity [in the A-10],” head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “That’s why you just have to take it one game at a time.”

Fresh off their third conference loss to St. Bonaventure University, the Rams traveled to Saint Louis to take on the Billikens in a game that was decided in the first half, when the potent Fordham offense took off.

Led by senior guards Erin Rooney and Abigail Corning, as well as sophomore forward Samantha Clark, Fordham scored 42 points in the first half, 35 of which were scored by the three first half standouts. Fordham shot 16 of 29, a staggering 55 percent from the field in the first half, and also went eight for 13 from beyond the arc.

Rooney, who has been having an exceptional all-around season, continued that trend in Saint Louis, finishing with 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Her effort, combined with a strong defensive showing from Fordham, led the Rams to a 56-45 win on the road.

After getting back on the winning track, Fordham returned home to host George Washington, the team that the Rams were tied with for fourth in the A-10 coming into the contest.

Unlike their previous matchups against the top teams in the conference, however, Fordham was able to come away with the victory at Rose Hill Gym, defeating the Colonels 67-58 and moving to 12-1 at home this season.

“Defensively, I thought we did a terrific job,” Gaitley said. “They average close to 78 points a game. What we wanted to do, is we just wanted to plug the middle and make them beat us from the outside, make them make tough shots.”

The Rams did just that. Forcing George Washington to take mostly outside jumpers, the Colonels shot just 35 percent from the field, and just under 28 percent from three.

Corning was Fordham’s star of the day. The captain scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists in the game. Corning hit four of her eight three-pointers and was also a perfect six for six from the free-throw line.

It could not have come at a better time, as Corning’s backcourt partner Rooney struggled mightily, shooting three of 13 from the field in one of her poorer shooting performances of the year.

Like a true leader, Rooney was able to help in other ways.

“It’s going to be really hard to get my shot this late in the season,” Rooney said. “Everyone tries to shut me down, so I really want to get the others involved. Whether I get the assist or I set somebody else up to get the assist. And then on the defensive end, I tried to pressure the ball handler a little more, try and bring some energy there and get some rebounds.”

Unlike the victory in Saint Louis, Fordham struggled a bit in the first half. George Washington went on an 11-0 run that gave them an early 14-7 lead on the Rams, who could not entirely handle the pressure from the Colonel defense.

After the George Washington run, Fordham gradually chipped away at the lead until a three pointer from freshman Hannah Missry finally tied the game at 26 with just under three minutes to go in the half. From there, Corning hit another three followed by a Clark layup that put Fordham up five heading into half.

“We hadn’t really faced [that kind of pressure] before,” Rooney said. “But just like with every defense, if they are going to try and do something, they’re giving up something else. They wanted to pressure us, so we just had to find what they were giving up.”

Fordham picked right up where they left off to start the second half, going on an 8-2 run to open the lead up to 11 points early on in the half.

George Washington would cut the lead to five as many as three times throughout the rest of the half, the last time with 46 seconds remaining, but the Rams defense always tightened when threatened, securing the win for Fordham.

The game was also part of the Play 4 Kay initiative in women’s college basketball, supporting breast cancer awareness. Instead of their regular home whites, Fordham donned all pink uniforms in an effort to raise awareness.

The win pushed Fordham into a tie for third in the Atlantic 10, with just five games remaining in the regular season. It is important for Fordham to stay there, as the top four teams in the A-10 receive byes in the first round of the conference tournament.

The two A-10 wins pushed the Rams record to 8-3 in the conference, but the matchup with Richmond would change that.

The 78-77 double overtime loss to Richmond came just three days after Fordham’s 67-58 victory over George Washington.

“Credit goes to Richmond,” head coach Stephanie Gaitley told WFUV following the game. “They made big shots to win it.”

Gaitley is referring to Richmond’s freshman guard Janelle Hubbard, who hit a three pointer with just seven seconds to go in double overtime to give Richmond the 78-77 lead they would not surrender.

“It was a tough shot,” Gaitley said of Hubbard’s shot. “We chased her with two people. She made a big shot to beat us, and that’s just part of the game.”

That was not the only big shot for the Spiders, however. Senior guard Kristina King had two clutch jumpers of her own. King not only hit a jumper to tie the game at the end of regulation, but also made a three-pointer to even the score at 71 with 16 seconds remaining in the first overtime.

King and Hubbard both finished the game with 29 points, combining for almost 75 percent of Richmond’s points in the game. That is the most points the Rams have given up to any single player this year.

Senior guard Abigail Corning struggled mightily for the Rams. Corning, normally a consistent scoring presence for the Rams, shot three of 18 from the field, scoring only six points in 50 minutes.

“Unfortunately, it was a night where Abigail struggled.” Gaitley said. “When one of your go-to [players] is struggling like that, that’s just the way it is.”

Sophomore forward Samantha Clark stepped up for Fordham, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds before fouling out in the first overtime.

Junior Emily Tapio also came through for the Rams, getting a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds playing every minute of the game.

With the loss, Fordham drops to 19-6 on the year, 8-4 in the Atlantic 10. Its next game comes on Saturday, when it hosts La Salle at Rose Hill Gym. Tip is at 2 p.m.

Categories: Basketball, Sports

Tags: MATT ROSENFELD, Sports, Women's Basketball