Taryn Durant and the Fordham defense are just some of the reasons why the team is 5-0 in A-10 play. Matt Moore/The Fordham Ram
By Matt Rosenfeld
Coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and its best season in over 20 years, many believed it was impossible for the 2014-15 Fordham women’s basketball team to make any more history.
Think again. For the first time ever, the Rams are 5-0 in the Atlantic 10.
The most recent wins over Saint Joseph’s and VCU have proven this year’s team is no slouch in the conference. In both the 57-47 win over the Hawks and the 60-51 victory over the (other) Rams, Fordham’s defense has stifled its opponent. The defense has led Fordham to win nine of its last 10 games, and is a major reason for its five-game winning streak.
While defense is something head coach Stephanie Gaitley’s teams have always focused on, the depth this season is a new luxury that has also helped carry Fordham to success.
In Sunday’s victory over VCU, Fordham’s leading scorer, senior Emily Tapio, was held to five points. Another one of the Rams’ top weapons, graduate student Tiffany Ruffin, scored just seven points. The saving grace for Fordham was junior center Samantha Clark, who doubled her season average with 18 points.
“I thought Sam stepped up tremendously,” Gaitley said following the VCU game. “Coming into this year, people thought ‘where are the points going to come from?’ Sam had to take it up a whole other level.”
Clark also had nine rebounds and two blocks to cap off her spectacular day.
The other jolt on Sunday came from sophomore Hannah Missry, whom we are used to seeing light up the scoreboard. Missry heated up from the three-point line, converting five of her nine attempts in her 17-point performance.
While Clark and Missry piled up the points for Fordham, the entire team locked down VCU much like it has done to most of its opponents over the last month. The Rams are first in the conference in defense, allowing only 53.4 points per game, a whole four points better than second-place Rhode Island.
Defense came through when Fordham needed it most on Sunday. Fordham led by 16 with just over 12 minutes to go in regulation when an 11-1 run for VCU cut the lead to just six. However, Fordham’s defense held steady and allowed the home Rams to rip off a quick 8-0 run. Sophomore Danielle Burns capped it with a steal and fast break layup to take the momentum and control back from VCU.
“Even when [VCU] made a run, we kept our composure and finished it off,” Gaitley said. “The big play was Danielle Burns’ steal in transition, which was great.”
Fordham now sits in second in the conference, behind George Washington, which is also 5-0 in the
A-10 and is currently on a fourteen-game winning streak.
Conference play is starting to heat up, as Fordham will play four more A-10 games over 11 days.
The next game for the Rams is at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 21, against the Massachusetts Minutewomen. The game will be Fordham’s annual School Day, in which local schools bring students to the matinee game to create one of the more unique atmospheres in college basketball. Over 2,000 students are expected to attend the game.
