Bonnies routed by Fordham amid a week of mourning

St. Bonaventure’s (23-12, 11-6) emotional roller coaster came to an end Saturday as the team struggled mightily in a 73-32 loss to Fordham (24-7, 13-5)…
St. Bonaventure’s (23-12, 11-6) emotional roller coaster came to an end Saturday as the team struggled mightily in a 73-32 loss to Fordham (24-7, 13-5)…
Tradition never comes easy. It is a process that will never give the luxury of being instantaneous and almost certainly will produce heartache. On Saturday night, tradition was vicious to the Fordham Ram women’s basketball team as they dropped a heartbreaker in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship to Saint Joseph’s, 47-46.
It was the worst of halves, it was the best of halves for the St. Joseph’s women’s basketball team. The Hawks overcame an early 10 point deficit and poor shooting to defeat the Fordham Rams, 47-46 and capture the 2012-13 Atlantic 10 conference championship.
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.
Leading by one at the half, the Rams knew they would have to start hitting from deep to put away a tough Temple team and give Coach Stephanie Gaitley her 500th career win. In the second stanza, the Rams did just that, draining seven out of their 13 attempts from downtown to top the Owls, 66-55, in Hagan Arena.
There must be something about the sight of the Saint Joe’s logo that makes the basket look extra big for Marah Strickland. After setting a career-high with 31 points against the fellow Jesuit institution a few weeks ago, the graduate student exploded for 22 points on Saint Joe’s home court in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals, leading Fordham to a 65-48 victory over Saint Louis.
With the win, the Rams finish the regular season with a 22-7 overall record, 12-2 in the Atlantic 10, good for third place in the conference and a first round bye at the A-10 Championship which starts on Friday at Saint Joseph’s University. It also is a mammoth improvement on the predictions of the preseason prognosticators, who slotted the Rams for an eleventh place finish.
Looking to snap a season-high eight-game losing streak and keep their faint playoff hopes alive, St. Bonaventure ran into a Fordham squad that is in the midst of a historical season and the Rams educated the young Bonnies right from the opening tip…
Fighting back from down 12 in the second half to force overtime, the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team eventually fell in the extra frame, 70-63, to Fordham Sunday afternoon at Rose Hill Gym. Redshirt senior forward Chatilla van Grinsven (Helmond, Netherlands/Dr. Kippenberg College) paced the Hawks with 26 points and 13 rebounds, and surpassed the 1,000 point plateau for her career.
Courtney Webb scored a season-high 18 points and Lorreal Jones recorded her fifth double-double of the season in Saint Louis’ 61-56 Atlantic 10 Conference loss to Fordham Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.