Fordham sees commitment pay off with third straight win

(Photo by Karen Floriani/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

NEW YORK -- The result was favorable. The manner in which Fordham achieved it tells more about this team.

Entering the fourth quarter with a ten-point lead and appearing to be in command, the Rams played the final period similar to the recently completed Super Bowl -- a lot of defense and little scoring -- by holding Saint Louis without a field goal for over seven minutes and defending its home floor with a 54-51 victory over the Billikens Wednesday night.

“I'm proud of my kids,” head coach Stephanie Gaitley said following the contest. “They beat a Saint Louis team that came in playing well.” 

Once again, defense played a major part in the win, as Fordham survived despite shooting just 36 percent from the floor and only 11 percent in the fourth quarter. Gaitley likens her approach to kung fu movies, where the emphasis is first and foremost on establishing your defensive approach, with offense to follow. The board in the Fordham locker room had, among other notes and diagrams, two main things: Win the battle for loose balls, and hold them under 60 points. Mission accomplished on both counts. 

“Those were two big points of emphasis,” Gaitley admitted. 

The stat sheet will not tell you how many times rebounds are tipped, or how many times you come up with the ball aimlessly bouncing and up for grabs, but it will highlight the Rams holding Saint Louis to only a 13 percent clip on three-point field goals, as well as having forced 14 turnovers. 

“We really talked and emphasized about keeping them under 60,” Gaitley said of limiting the Billikens' scoring chances.

Bre Cavanaugh is Fordham's leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points per game. The redshirt sophomore managed only 11 on this night as she continues to fight through the throes of a self-admitted slump while Gaitley maintains her belief that the New Jersey native will emerge from the struggles a stronger player. In her stead, Kaitlyn Downey came off the bench for an excellent 16-point outing, supplemented by a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double from Mary Goulding.

The Rams, now winners of three straight, seem to be headed in the right direction as George Mason visits Rose Hill Sunday. The opportunity is there to extend the streak four in a row and kick already existing momentum into overdrive. 

“We started with a difficult schedule and went 9-5 out of conference,” Gaitley explained. “We had a few rough ones in conference play, losing at home to VCU and Davidson.”

During that time, Gaitley experimented with different rotations and lineup changes to get her group on track. The past few days saw everything start to come together, beginning with a strong effort in defeating Duquesne last Sunday. That attitude and approach carried over a few nights later, with the seeds of recent success having been sown not in games, but rather, in practices.

“Before Duquesne and Saint Louis, we had some really good practices,” Gaitley said. “That just carried over into our games.”