To say that this season has been rough for the Fordham women’s basketball team would be an understatement. Head Coach Bridgette Mitchell had her work cut out for her at the start of the season with only four returning players from last year’s team and eight new players brought into the program.

Continuity is difficult for most college basketball teams now, in the age of name, image and likeness, and it takes time to build. The brand-new team looked promising at the beginning of the season, posting an 8-4 non-conference record.

The Ram’s suffered their first non-conference losses was to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, in which senior guard Alexis Black, one of Fordham’s transfer students, scored her then career-high 30 points. That was one of the first times Fordham fans got to see Black’s full scoring potential.

Black’s scoring ability was also on display when the Rams traveled to South Orange, New Jersey, to take on Seton Hall University. While the Rams came away with a loss in a double-overtime thriller that featured Black breaking the Fordham Women’s Basketball scoring record, putting up 42 points in the loss and breaking the long-standing record of 40 points set by Jeanine Radice on Dec. 5, 1987.

Entering the conference season, Fordham looked poised for a possible March Madness run. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The Rams started conference play with a six-game losing streak.

One standout performer was Sophomore Carryn Easley distributed the ball well and showcased her scoring capabilities. Fordham was finally able to break their losing streak, thanks to a 16-point performance by transfer junior guard Lakresha Edwards and returning sophomore Emma Wilson-Saltos. Easley joined this pair with a 10-point performance and seven assists.

As soon as things finally started to look up for the Rams, another six-game losing streak ensued. Then the Rams broke through for their second win against Saint Louis University.

Fordham went on another four-game losing streak to close the season as the 14th seed in the Atlantic 10 (A-10) tournament taking place in Henrico, Virginia. The Rams faced a familiar foe in Saint Louis, who had been on a similar conference journey, entering the tournament on a 10-game losing streak, with their last win coming at the Rams’ expense.

Both teams were trying to salvage a very disappointing regular season. The squads matched up very evenly, both being near the bottom of the A-10 conference in offensive efficiency and bottom four in three-point percentage. Both of these teams like to dominate the paint. With the 6’ 6” A-10 rookie of the year Alyssa Koerkenmeier, Saint Louis is built to do that.

Fordham had their work cut out for them to try to shut down Koerkenmeier. The plan was clear from the opening tip: either double- or triple-team the dangerous Koerkenmeier every time she touched the ball.

The plan was upended as Saint Louis shot 50% from the three-point line, a far cry from their usual 26%. Saint Louis was up by 10 when the halftime buzzer rang.

Fordham was able to cut the third-quarter deficit to just five points thanks to stellar play by their freshmen. Easley dropped a new career high of 23 points, and London Liley, who was plugged in off the bench, gave the Rams a spark with 10 points.

While Fordham was able to cut the Saint Louis lead to two, turnovers and fouls allowed the Billikens to pull away again. The Rams fouled 22 times and gave up 16 points at the free-throw line because of them. In addition, Fordham allowed 24 points off turnovers.

When the final buzzer rang, Fordham was sent back to the Bronx with a 68-60 loss. While this season was one that the Rams would rather forget, there were some bright spots.

Fordham’s freshmen Liley and Easley showed what fans could look forward to if the program is able to retain them. “Really proud of our freshmen showing the potential and future, playing with the tenacity and grit that they did,” Mitchell said to the press after the loss.

While the Rams might not have had the season they were hoping for this year, the future looks promising. Next year, Mitchell will be equipped with more returning players, allowing her to build on the experiences from this season. With a full summer to build their team, the Rams will look to go from the bottom to one of the top teams in the A-10.