Fordham University Women’s Basketball hosted Stony Brook University at the Rose Hill Gymnasium on Nov. 12. It was a close game throughout, but the Rams, led by junior guard Alexis Black and graduate student forward Ornella Niankan defeated the visiting Seawolves 58-52 to close out their opening homestand with a 3-1 record.

Black dropped 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, while shooting 12-17 from the free-throw line as she drove relentlessly and frequently to the rim on the way to her third straight game with 20 or more points. Niankan tacked on 16 points and eight rebounds from the bench and senior forward Emma Wilson-Saltos added six points and 10 rebounds.

The deciding factor in a very close game was Fordham out-rebounding Stony Brook 45-33. The Rams also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored nine second-chance points. In addition, Fordham’s defense held Stony Brook to only 17.6% shooting from beyond the arc and 29.1% from the field.

Fordham struggled out of the gate, falling behind 15-8 at the end of the first quarter. But the Rams fought back in the second quarter, using a strong 10 minutes on both ends of the floor to outscore the Seawolves 20-10, and narrow the deficit to 28-25 going into the locker room.

The Rams then outscored Stony Brook 15-10 in the third quarter to usurp the lead heading into the fourth. Fordham expanded the lead to 53-50 before going on a 5-0 run to make it a 58-50 game with 13 seconds remaining. The Seawolves scored one more basket, but the Rams held on for the 58-52 win.

In their next game the Rams headed up to Buffalo University to play their first away contest of the season. While they did manage to keep Buffalo to just 35% shooting from the field, the Rams only shot 29% on their way to the 67-59 loss to the Bulls.

The Rams were led by three players in double figures, Wilson-Saltos, who had 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Niankan tacked on 13 points and seven rebounds and Black chipped in as well with 13 points, four assists, six steals and two blocks.

Niankan pulled down five offensive, pacing the team as they grabbed 15 total offensive rebounds and turned them into seven second chance points. Fordham forced 23 Buffalo turnovers while committing 17 themselves in Sunday’s game, a season low. The Rams turned those takeaways into 23 points on the other end of the floor, with Black’s six steals leading the way for Fordham.

After falling behind 11-9, Fordham went on a 7-0 run with 1:17 left in the first quarter, culminating in a three from sophomore guard Anastasija Veljovic, to take a 16-11 lead to end the first. Fordham did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 10 of its 16 points close to the basket. This would continue to be the case as the Rams shot an unfortunate 3-23 (13%) from three-point range. The Rams were unable to maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 28-23.

Buffalo continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 42-33 advantage before Fordham went on a 7-0 run to trim its deficit to 42-40 with 3:32 to go in the third. Buffalo countered and stretched its lead to 48-45 heading into the fourth. Fordham took advantage of five Buffalo turnovers in the quarter, scoring seven points off of takeaways.

Fordham went into the fourth quarter with newfound energy, going on a 6-0 run, finished off by a Niankan layup, to seize a 51-48 lead with 7:40 to go in the contest. But Buffalo quickly reasserted control, outscoring the Rams 19-8 the rest of the way to hand Fordham the loss.

Next up the Rams will make the short trip to South Orange, New Jersey for a meeting with Seton Hall University on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.