What a month it has been for the women’s basketball team as they continued to play through game cancellations and postponements. The Rams bounced into the flow of conference gameplay, winning four of their last five games played. The team has really come together and played hard against some formidable opponents, never backing down from the challenges that they face.

Last week, the Rams played two games: one at home and one on the road. Despite the fan vacancy in the stands, the Rams protected the home court, defeating the George Washington Colonials, 61-53. Junior Anna DeWolfe and senior Asiah Dingle  led the Rams in scoring and were difficult for the Colonials to stop. DeWolfe had a total of 21 points and Dingle had 15 points. 

The Colonials tried to respond to every point and run that the Rams had, but their efforts were not enough. Senior guards Kaitlyn Downey and Megan Jonassen combined for a total of 13 rebounds, which contributed to multiple second-chance opportunities for the Rams. This home game was the strength they needed as the team looked ready to travel for two straight road games.

On Friday, the Rams made it to North Carolina to make some noise in Davidson’s home court. Historically, Davidson is a team that always leaves Fordham scrambling to defeat. However, this year was different, and the Rams came out on top. 

Fordham led for the majority of the game and dominated its opponent. In the first quarter, the Rams had 21 points, and Davidson tried to slow down their strong start. However, at the end of the half, the Rams had maintained a 31-24 lead. Along with top scorers DeWolfe and Dingle, graduate student Kendell Heremaia had five points and five rebounds. 

At the start of the second half, Davidson came out ready to score. The team scored five points, leaving the Rams unable to answer. This resulted in a really close game, 31-29, and head coach Stephanie Gaitley called a timeout, hoping to reset the Rams. This worked perfectly as the Rams came out of the timeout ready to provide some answers to the Wildcats. 

Once again, rebounds played a big part in the team’s success, accounting for 15 second-chance points. Overall, the team had a total of 50 rebounds, its most ever as a collective team since 2015. This contributed to the Rams’ third straight road win, closing the game 63-51. 

Continuing their road games, the Rams traveled to Dayton, Ohio to face the Dayton Flyers. However, this story was different. Holding the lead for most of the game, the Rams looked like they were ready to secure the win. However, the Flyers were able to come back at the very end of the fourth quarter, securing the win after a tough battle against Fordham.

This Dayton win did not come easy. Fordham remained strong throughout the game, doing what it could to hold the lead. In the first quarter, Fordham held the lead, with Dingle, DeWolfe and Jonassen accounting for all of the points scored during the period. Dayton kept it close, shrinking a 10-point lead to a three-point lead by the end of the first quarter.

It was during the second quarter where Dayton held the lead for a little bit, but a Heramaia three-pointer and layup helped put the Rams back on top. DeWolfe also helped keep the lead, responding to a Dayton jumper.

Coming back from halftime, the Rams maintained their lead despite the Flyers’ efforts. This quarter, it was DeWolfe and sophomore Maranda Nyborg who led the scoring efforts that created the seven-point lead that the Rams had at the end of the quarter. 

The story changed in the fourth quarter when the Rams held the lead all the way up until the last 45 seconds of the game. In the last five minutes, Fordham was unable to score. Dayton took advantage of this, and the Flyers scored nine points in the last five minutes of gameplay, granting them the win 48-52.

The Rams are set to continue conference play and return home this week to battle St. Joseph’s. The game will take place in the Rose Hill Gym this Wednesday. Students will not be allowed to attend as the university’s mandate on school events remains in place. However, the game will be streaming on ESPN+.