Women’s Basketball Defeats Cleveland State, 52-43, for First Win of Season
Balanced Attack Features Three Double-Figure Scorers
The Fordham women’s basketball team used a torrid first half, combined with a scrappy defense, balanced scoring and physical play in the paint, to give Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley her first win as Fordham’s head coach, 52-43, over Cleveland State, on Wednesday night in front a boisterous crowd in the Rose Hill Gymnasium.
Prior to the game, Becky Peters was honored for scoring her 1000th career point last week in the season opener with Albany. Fueled by this, the Rams jumped out to a scorching start, hitting six of their first eight shots, capped by a Peters’ jumper at 15:25 that put the Rams in front 13-6. From there the team saw baskets from Taryn Durant, Abigail Corning, Arielle Collins and Peters extend the advantage to 15 points, 25-10, at the 5:40 mark.
Fordham led 35-23 at the intermission in a half that saw the Rams shoot 52% from the field, collect eleven assists on 12 made baskets and hold Cleveland State without a basket for five minutes and 14 seconds during the first 20 minutes.
The Rams cooled down on offense in the second half, shooting 23.3% for the half but they didn’t let up on defense, holding the Vikings to just eight field goals. Fordham opened the second stanza with a Corning three-pointer at 19:11 to bump the lead to 38-23. From there, the Vikings chipped the lead down to nine points, 40-31, with an 8-2 run that was capped by a Destinee Blue layup at 14:01.
Cleveland State then suffered through a nearly six-minute drought between baskets as Fordham got points from Charlotte Stoddart and Christina Gaskin to push the lead back to 14, 45-31.
The Rams put the game away when Liz Milner buried a three-pointer with 5:14 left to give Fordham its largest lead of the contest, 50-33, as the Rams closed out the Vikings for the 52-43 win.
Corning scored a game-high 13 points while Stoddart chipped in with eleven points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field, and added eight rebounds. As a team, Fordham had 18 assists to just 17 turnovers.
Fordham returns to action on Saturday, November 19, when the Rams travel to Worcester, Massachusetts, to face Holy Cross. The game against the Crusaders is slated to begin at 1:00 P.M.
Game Notes: Arielle Collins recorded a career-high, seven assists… Her previous high was four, which she accomplished three times…This is the first win for Fordham over a team that won 20 games the previous season since the Rams beat Ohio University at the 2008 Cancun Thanksgiving Shootout…Charlotte Stoddart tied a career-high in rebounds (8), originally she set last week against Albany…She also notched a new-career high by sinking five field goals.
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