By Aaron M Smith
Brooklyn, NY – Saturday night from the Barclays Center it all comes down to this; the summer workouts, weight room, film room, countless hours in the gym, all of the sweat and tears. A one game, winner take all battle. It’s the 2012-13 Atlantic 10 women’s basketball conference championship. The prize? For one team it will be bragging rights for a year and an automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament. The game features the fourth ranked St. Joseph’s Hawks matched against the third seeded Fordham Rams. It is certain to be a classic, but before the game starts let’s take a look at both teams:
Previous Meeting: One meeting during the regular season produced an overtime thriller at the Rose Hill Gym with the Rams prevailing 70-63. Chatilla van Grinsven led the Hawks with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Marah Strickland led all scorers with a scintillating 31 points.
St. Joseph’s (22-8)
Conference Championship History: For the Hawks this is their 10th appearance in the conference championship game (2-9) with a victory over George Washington (59-56) in 1999 being the last time St. Joe’s hoisted the trophy.
What the watch: The Hawks start and stop with Chatilla van Grinsven who enters the game averaging 15.2 ppg and 10.5 rpg.. When opposing teams focus on the Helmond, Netherlands native, the rest of Hawks will attack. Junior guard Erin Shields may have the best jump shot in the Atlantic 10 conference and is deadly beyond the arc. Senior guard Ashley Prim had 8 points and 13 rebounds in the semifinal win over Dayton and is a nightmare for opposing point guards. Natasha Cloud was named to the A-10 women’s first team All-Defensive team and will certainly draw the tough assignment of guarding Strickland. Mireia Vila and Ilze Gotfrida come off the bench early and will contribute. This team is not afraid of the big moment with victories of over then fifth ranked Maryland (50-49) and Dayton (61-54). In 6 of the 8 games the Hawks have lost this year, the opposing team scored 70 or more points. In all 22 of their wins, they never gave up more than 70 points.
Fordham (24-7)
Conference Championship History: This is the first trip the Atlantic 10 championship finals for the Rams. This is a season of firsts for the teams whose 2012-13 season motto has been “Tradition begins now”. The 65-58 quarterfinal win over the St. Louis Billikens and the 66-55 semifinal win over Temple were the first in the program’s history.
What to watch: Fordham as a team shot 34.8% from behind three point line during the season. The Rams shot 5 for 13 (38%) in the first half against St. Louis and 7 for 13 (53.8%) in the second half of Temple. South Carolina transfer Marah Strickland who scored a career high 31 points in the last meeting against the Hawks, scored 22 and 12 respectively in the two conference games. Point guard Arielle Collins played in 76 minutes out of a possible 80 minutes in the two games and had just 3 turnovers to go along with 8 assists. Erin Rooney dropped 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Temple. For as potent a three point team as the Rams are, don’t sleep on the inside game. Freshman Samantha Clark has 4 double-doubles this season and is a force to deal with inside. In a combined 45 fields goals over the weekend, the Rams had 32 assists, so expect the extra pass. As a team, Fordham ranks in the Top 35 nationally in fewest turnovers. In conference play the Rams are averaging 12.6 turnovers a game, but in their two losses (Dayton and Duquesne) they had over 22.5 turnovers in each game. Coach Stephanie Gaitley’s 500th career win put the Rams in the A-10 championship game, 501 be even sweeter??
Do you have a prediction? Let’s hear it on the Pine.
Aaron M Smith can be followed on Twitter at @PicknSplinters
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