Fordham Women Defeat George Washington

Fordham Women Defeat George Washington, 67-58 to Advance in A-10 Standings

(Photo by Gary Quintal)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 10- The fans at the Rose Hill Gym saw an exciting and toughly contested basketball contest on Saturday afternoon between two teams, the Fordham Rams (19-5, 8-3) and the George Washington Colonials (16-8, 7-4) that were tied for fourth place in the tightly bunched Atlantic-10 conference standings. 

Fordham got out to an early lead until a three by Jonquil Jones at 6:07 gave the visitors their first advantage of the game, 8-7, which began a run of 11 unanswered points that resulted in the game’s biggest lead for the Colonials, 14-7. 

George Washington kept the lead until a three by freshman Hannah Missry knotted the score at 26 with 2:38 left in the half. The Rams scored the final five points of the half to lead 31-26.

The Rams scored the first five points of the second half to bring their lead to double digits, 36-26. Two free throws sunk by Abigail Corning, the game’s leading scorer, at 7:48 brought Fordham its greatest advantage of 13 points, 53-40. The lead dwindled slightly, but was never seriously challenged in the second half.

Defense was as important for Fordham during the contest as was offense. G.W. was held to a field goal percentage of 34.4 percent in the first half and 35.5 percent in the second. In their 23 previous games this season, the Colonials were only held to less than the 58 of Saturday’s game three times.

Another quite impressive stat for Fordham was that assists were given on 21 of Fordham’s 22 field goals. Of that, senior Corning remarked, “We’re sharing the ball well. It shows our chemistry, just shows we’re a selfless team. It makes us hard to defend.”

Corning was the only double figure scorer in the first half with 13. She concluded the contest with a game-high of 20. She modestly described her performance, “[I was] just taking the shots that presented themselves to me, especially in the first half.”

Three of the other Fordham starters also reached double figures in scoring, Missry (12), Erin Rooney (11) and Emily Tapio (11). 

Danni Jackson, the shortest player on the court at 5-3, was the highest scorer for the Colonials with 16 points.

The victory was the 18th in the last 21 games for the Rams. Corning commented on its importance, “It just keeps our momentum going.”

The Rams will travel to Richmond for a televised encounter on February 11. They will return to the Bronx to host La Salle on the afternoon of February 15.