Women’s Basketball: Tough Stretch Continues With Losses to UMass and Dayton

Fordham+dropped+games+to+UMass+and+Dayton+despite+heroics+from+Heremaia.+%28Courtesy+of+Fordham+Athletics%29

Fordham dropped games to UMass and Dayton despite heroics from Heremaia. (Courtesy of Fordham Athletics)

Despite the continuation of a three game losing streak, Fordham has remained strong against the teams they faced this week. The Rams have dropped in the league, now 7-5 in Atlantic 10 play and 16-8 in overall play. Fordham fought until the last second and did not hand the win over to these teams. 

Starting it off strong, the Rams traveled to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to face the Minutewomen in their home court. Graduate student Kendall Heremaia had a record-setting night, even though the team took the loss. Hermaia broke the long-standing record set in 1994 by Denise Hammersley for the most three-pointers in a game in school history. Heremaia hit 11 three-pointers, breaking the record by two. She also passed junior teammate Anna DeWolfe for career points by placing 12th overall in program history with 1,224 points.

Heremaia helped guide the team to a lead which they maintained for most of the first two quarters. She hit five straight three-pointers in the first quarter and was making buckets for the rest of the night. She finished with a career-high record of 35 points, the sixth highest in program history. This was not all she was able to do during the night. Heremaia also had 11 rebounds and three steals. This double-double was the 13th in her career, tying her for fifth overall in the program. 

Heremaia was not the only lead scorer for the team; DeWolfe and senior Asiah Dingle also scored for the team, 12 and seven points respectively. While it wasn’t their best night, the Rams put up a fight that held UMass Amherst to just 25% shooting during the first quarter. Because of this, Fordham was able to maintain the strong lead going into halftime, 36-23.

However, coming out of the break, the Minutewomen were able to take back the lead. They scored 20 points in the third quarter, but the Rams were still able to maintain an eight point lead. It was during the final quarter when things started to shift; In the final minutes, Fordham only made two shots, both by Heremaia. Eventually, UMass Amherst took the lead and won the game, despite the strong, record-breaking performance by the Rams.

The loss propelled the Rams into their next game at home against the league-leading Dayton Flyers. The Rams’ home game allowed fans in the Rose Hill Gymnasium for the first time in two months.

The first half was a rough one for Fordham. Overall, the team only shot 25% from field goal range. For three-pointers, the team made only one of 15 attempted shots. They had 11 turnovers while the Flyers only had five. Dayton was also shooting a lot better as they were 42.9% from field goal range. Fordham was straggling behind, only scoring 15 points in the first half while Dayton scored 28 points.

In the second half of the game, Fordham tried to come back. DeWolfe had 15 points, contributing to the strong comeback. Freshman Millie Prior had the most rebounds in the half, four overall, adding to the team’s overall total of 37. Dingle had four rebounds as well, doing what she could on both ends of the floor. 

Fordham fought until the end, but the Flyers were able to carry the momentum from the first half until the end of the game. Fordham tried to get on top but were unable to do so. 

This 48-47 loss placed the Rams in a rut, losing their third straight game. 

With only two games left to play in the regular season, the Rams are looking toward one more home game and road game. Their next game is set to take place this Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia where the Rams will face the University of Richmond Spiders at 6 p.m.