Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lady Rams Nip Blue Devils

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lady Rams Nip Blue Devils: Lady Rams Nip Blue Devils By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20- For the third straight year, the Fordham Rams women’s basketb...

Lady Rams Nip Blue Devils

Lady Rams Nip Blue Devils

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20- For the third straight year, the Fordham Rams women’s basketball team (21‐11), under the direction of head coach Stephanie Gaitley, have qualified for a post‐season tournament. On Thursday night, the Rams hosted the Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Blue Devils (19‐13) at the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx.

Despite playing in different conferences, Fordham in the Atlantic‐10 and CCSU in the North East Conference (NEC), the two teams met in December in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The very one‐sided affair, a 72‐36 victory for Fordham, was Fordham’s biggest win and the worst defeat for the Blue Devils.

The outcome of the earlier contest was not replicated on Wednesday night in the Bronx. The visitors scored the first eight points in the contest. After netting another 11 unanswered points the Blue Devils reached a game‐high advantage of 14 points, 25‐11, at 12:11. A scoring run of 10 straight points by the Rams cut the Fordham deficit to four at 7:44. The first half concluded with CCSU leading, 37‐31.

The greatest difference in statistics from the first game between the two was the shooting from the floor by the Blue Devils. On December 9, they netted only 28.4 percent of their shots while sinking 13 baskets during the contest. In only the first half on Thursday, they shot an outstanding 56.7 percent and 17 of their shots were successful.

The visitors raised their lead to double digits again, 52‐41, at 13:07 of the second half, but the Rams began an impressive comeback at that point. A 16‐3 run by the Rams that culminated in one of the five 3 pointers by Hannah Missry knotted the score for the first time, at 57, in the game, at 8:43. The teams traded baskets until a jumper by Danielle Burns at 4:35 gave Fordham its first lead of the game, 63‐61. The Rams retained that advantage until the final buzzer sounded.

In the December game, neither team had even one player that scored in double figures. This was not the case on Thursday as four Blue Devils and five Rams reached double digit scoring.

Amanda Harrington, CCSU, and Tiffany Ruffin, Fordham, led their teams with 18 points each. Samantha Clark, Fordham center, achieved a double‐double with 10 points and 10 boards. Ruffin had an excellent overall game with 18 points, 9 rebounds, three assists and 5 steals. Coach Gaitley commented on the graduate student in her first year at Fordham, “Pretty impressive numbers. She gained confidence as the year progressed.”

Gaitley believed her opponent’s improvement came from several factors, “Her [Coach Beryl Piper] team was fully prepared; their best player [Tejahne Malone] was out during our first game; they’re much more relieved on the road.” She thought the players may have looked beyond CCSU because of the previous result, and stated, “We’ll use this [game] as an opportunity to grow.’

Fordham advanced to road two where they will meet the St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday afternoon in Queens. Gaitley looked forward to the New York City game that includes two teams that have been impressive in the recent past.

#Fordham #LadyRams #CCSUBlue Devils #MarchMadness

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Shots ring out on St. Paddy’s Day

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Shots ring out on St. Paddy’s Day: Shots ring out on St. Paddy’s Day By Aaron Carnegie BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20- At around 10 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, four shots ...

Shots ring out on St. Paddy’s Day

Shots ring out on St. Paddy’s Day

By Aaron Carnegie

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20- At around 10 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, four shots rang out in the vicinity of 100 Erdman Place.

At least one car was hit. It had a broken windshield and a broken side window on the driver’s side.

A witness on the scene said that police and Public Safety officers were looking for two men in connection with this crime. No injuries were reported.

#NYPD #St. Patrick’s Day #Shooting

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Psycho Dad Fed Kids Poisoned Pizza

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Psycho Dad Fed Kids Poisoned Pizza: Psycho Dad Fed Kids Poisoned Pizza Convicted of Poisoning Son, Drowning in Tub BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20-    He laced his kids’ pizza with ...

Psycho Dad Fed Kids Poisoned Pizza

Psycho Dad Fed Kids Poisoned Pizza

Convicted of Poisoning Son, Drowning in Tub

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 20-  He laced his kids’ pizza with rat poison. For that, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson announced that 49-year-old Leonardo Espinal will spend 20-to-life in prison.

Following a plea of guilty last month to murder in the second degree (Class A-1 Felony) and attempted murder in the second degree (Class B Felony), Espinal was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Troy Webber to 20 years-to-life for the murder of his 5-year-old son Steward, and, concurrently, 15 years in prison plus another five years post-release supervision for the injury to his daughter Mia, who was 7-years-old at the time.

In November 2012, Espinal was having issues with his ex-wife, Rosaura Abreu, and she had kicked him out of the family apartment. When Espinal discovered Abreu was seeing another man, he carried out a callous revenge plan to poison their two children. Espinal penned a suicide note, and fed the poisoned pizza to the children, eating some as well. The little girl threw up from ingesting the rat poison; Steward soiled himself, and the father locked himself and the boy in the bathroom. Refusing to come out, Espinal's stepmother called 911 and police broke down the door to find the father dazed, but alive. The little boy was in the tub, dead from the combination of poison and being submerged in water.  

The children’s mother, Rosaura Abreu, submitted a victim impact statement to the Court: “Mi querido angelito…I will never forget the last time I saw my little son…he was radiant, happy, content, and followed me all around the house. When it was time for me to leave, he followed me to the door and I knelt down to talk with him. It’s as if my heart knew that it would be the last time I would see him alive…

Noting that the tragedy impelled mother and daughter to move, “Mia suffered anxiety attacks every time I would mention going back to that apartment where she lived with her little brother.  She never wanted to sleep in the same bed where she slept with her Steward, protecting him from monsters.

“Mia will have to live for the rest of her life with the horrific memory that her own father caused in attempting to kill her.  Although therapy helped the both of us, Mia and I suffer every day the absence of our boy in our daily lives. Mia suffers…when she goes to parties, when she goes to bed, when she plays with other children, when she sees photos of him, when she sees another boy the same age as him, when she sees me sad because she knows I am thinking of him.

“All we can do is take it day by day.”

#Pizza #Rat Poison #Dad #NYPD #BronxDA

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Fires Coach

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Fires Coach: Fordham Fires Coach By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 19- Seven days before the fifth anniversary of his hiring as the head ...