Returning to the U.S. after their Thanksgiving trip to Cancun, the Fordham Rams gave a valiant effort against a strong Georgetown squad, but fell to 3-4 on the year with a 58-46 loss last night in Washington, D.C.

Fordham fell behind by as many as eight in the first half and entered halftime down by five. The Hoyas (6-1) grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the half, and outscored the Rams 14-4 in the paint. Georgetown scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 34-21 lead and though Fordham was able to cut into the lead, their Big East opponent was just too much to handle.

For the Rams, Becky Peters, in her first career start, scored a game-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Kristina Bell added 10 points and Tiffany Stokes had nine points and eight rebounds.

Fordham will return home to the Rose Hill Gym this Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 contest against Wofford College.

The Kuchil Baxal Gymnasio in Cancun, Mexico was the Thanksgiving home of the Fordham Rams as they participated in the four-team Cancun Thanksgiving Shootout.

Making another case that they are not last year’s Rams, Fordham defeated Ohio, 55-51, Saturday to even their record at 3-3 after dropping a close one to UNC-Wilmington, 53-48, the day before in the tournament opener.

In the win over Ohio, the Rams led 30-19 at the half, limiting the Bobcats to 29.2 percent shooting from the floor and forcing 12 turnovers. The Rams led by as many as 16 in the second half but Ohio went on a 17-2 run to pull within one at 41-40 with 5:32 left in the game. The Bobcats then tied the game at 45 and took a 48-47 lead with 3:21 to play. From there, Tiffany Stokes, Randall Hurst, and Annie Zopf, along with strong team defense, took over as Fordham withstood the Ohio run, a run that would once again tie the game at 51 with 1:15 to play. For the Rams, Hurst had 18 points, 16 coming in the second half, and was named to the All-Shootout Team. Zopf added 11 points while Megan Mahoney had nine points and six rebounds. Stokes chipped in with six points and five rebounds.

Saturday’s win came on the heels of the Friday afternoon loss to UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks led throughout the first half as Fordham was plagued by 13 turnovers while allowing nine Seahawk offensive rebounds in the half. The Rams took a two point lead, 33-31, with 14:32 to play in the game and had a five point lead, 40-35, with 10:14 to play. However, the Seahawks would score 11 points in a row to secure the win. Mahoney and Stokes had 10 points apiece for Fordham. Kristina Bell had seven assists. The Rams shot just 4-for-11 from the free throw line.

Fordham returns to the United States for an 8:00 contest Wednesday night at Georgetown. The game can be heard live on WFUV.org.

It’s off to Cancun for the Fordham women’s basketball team, but this is far from a vacation.

Fordham will spend the next two days participating in the Cancun Thanksgiving Shootout. This afternoon’s matchup with UNC-Wilmington will tip off at 5:00. The Rams will then play tomorrow against either South Carolina or Ohio. Both games can be heard live on WFUV.org.

The games in Cancun mark the first time this year that Fordham will play away from Rose Hill.

The Rams enter tonight’s contest with a 2-2 record following a win Tuesday night over NJIT at Rose Hill. The 57-45 win was the epitome of a balanced offensive scoring attack for Fordham, with no player reaching double figures in points. Megan Mahoney, Tiffany Stokes, and Annie Zopf each had nine points, while Randall Hurst and Takita Earl scored eight points apiece.

Fordham trailed by four at the half but led by as many as 16 in the second half thanks to a 16-4 run midway through the half. The Rams shot 48.3 percent from the floor in the second half after shooting just 28.6 percent in the first half.

One thing is crystal clear to all those who have watched the Fordham women’s basketball team at the start of this season: The 2008-09 Rams are a more skilled and  more confident bunch, ready to put behind last year’s 0-29 record that seemed to be all that anyone outside of the program ever wanted to talk about, even as this new season began.

Well, talk of last year should officially be pronounced dead as the Rams evened their record at 2-2 tonight with a 57-45 win over NJIT at the Rose Hill Gym. Even in the team’s two losses, the women have been competitive, and had chances to win both games. Now, already with two more wins than last year, the Rams look ahead instead of constantly behind asked about the past.

For Fordham tonight, Megan Mahoney, Tiffany Stokes, and Annie Zopf had nine points apiece, while Takita Earl chipped in with eight point, four rebounds, and four blocks. Mahoney and Stokes each had seven rebounds. Randall Hurst had eight points and five rebounds. The Rams scored 26 points in the second half, erasing a four-point deficit at the break by shooting 48.3 percent from the floor after halftime.

Now, the traveling season begins as Fordham plays their next two in Cancun and next week returns to the United States for a game at Georgetown.

As first reported on fordhamsports.com, women’s head coach Cathy Andruzzi announced the signing of two future Rams today. Ranait Griff and Ariel Dale have both signed letters of intent, and will join the team for the 2009-10 season.

“I am very pleased with the signing of Ranait Griff and Ariel Dale,” Andruzzi told fordhamsports.com. “They provide our team with size in length and bulk on the perimeter. They have strong academic backgrounds and have played on competitive high school and AAU programs.”

According to the website, Griff is a 6’0 shooting guard from Summit, New Jersey. She attends Rutgers Prep where she has helped lead the team to the 2007 and 2008 State Prep Championships and the 2008 Somerset County Championship. Last season she averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, to go along with a school record 85 assists.

Dale is a 5’9 small forward from Los Angeles, California where she is a two-year captain at Pacific Hills High School. She has helped lead Pacific Hills to two Southern Section Championships and two runner-up finishes at the Division V State Championships. She averaged 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals per game last year.

Overshadowed by the men’s 81-67 loss to the Manhattan Jaspers last night in the “Battle of the Bronx” was the devastating defeat suffered by the women just hours earlier at the Rose Hill Gym.

Looking for their second win in a row, the Rams nearly overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half, but fell one point short as they could not convert late in the game and fell to the Bucknell Bison, 47-46.

Down 47-40 with 5:18 to play, Fordham cut the lead to one with 1:51 left in the game. However, a missed free throw by Megan Mahoney, and missed shots by Randall Hurst, Becky Peters, and Annie Zopf gave Bucknell their third win in as many tries.

For the Rams, Hurst led the way once again with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mahoney and Weekes added six points apiece. Fordham commited just five turnovers, the lowest total for a game in the team’s history.

The 1-2 Rams conclude their four-game homestand to open the season with a battle against the New Jersey Institute of Technology at 7:00 Tuesday night at the Rose Hill Gym.

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

The Fordham Rams topped Manhattan, 62-49, Wednesday night at the Rose Hill Gym in the annual “Battle of the Bronx” to snap their 35-game losing streak and pick up their first win since the 2006-07 season.

In a hard-fought battle that saw the Rams rely on their defense to overtake the Jaspers, Fordham evened their record at 1-1 on the young season, and most importantly, put an end to a losing streak that had plagued them all of last season and into the early part of this new year.

“I’m real proud of our girls,” head coach Cathy Andruzzi said after the win. “They had a lot of poise out there. It feels awesome.”

Defense was the name of the game for the Rams last night. Fordham forced 28 Manhattan turnovers and had six steals. The Rams also blocked five Jasper shots, frustrating Manhattan with a swarming three-quarter court press and intense half-court pressure.

“We knew we had to do it on the defensive end and that’s what we did,” Andruzzi said. “Defense wins ballgames.”

In fact, Andruzzi and her players were quick to point out that the defensive effort was the difference between winning last night’s game and losing last Friday to Princeton. Friday night, the Rams were unable to stop Princeton from scoring late, as the Tigers scored 35 points in the game’s final 13 minutes, on their way to a 69-point night. Forty eight of those points came in the second half.

“We knew we lost the second half against Princeton because we didn’t come out and play defense,” junior forward Randall Hurst said. “Tonight we came out (in the second half) and played strong defense.”

“Defense is what we’re focusing on a lot,” senior guard Annie Zopf added. “We make goals to hold a team under a certain number (of points).”

Andruzzi was quick to praise her team’s defense.

“In the Princeton game we had individual efforts with people trying to take over the game,” the head coach said. “Today we didn’t have that breakdown on defense. We won the game with defense. It has to be a great defensive effort (to win).”

Last night they did just that. But they also scored when they had to, and after Manhattan took a 40-36 lead with under 11 minutes to go, the Rams hit clutch shot after clutch shot. Down the stretch, after the Jaspers had taken the four-point lead, Becky Peters scored six points, and Hurst took over. Leading the Rams in scoring for the second straight game, Hurst poured in a game-high 19 points, 12 coming in the second half, and six coming down the stretch.

“I think it’s more confidence,” Hurst said, identifying the key to the Rams’ second-half proficiency last night. “The shots just started falling for us.”

The key stretch came after Manhattan took a 40-36 lead with 10:20 left in the game. Kyara Weekes hit a jumper and was fouled. After hitting the free throw and trimming the lead to one, Manhattan came right back as Kelly Regan, a 6-3 senior center who led the team with 12 points, scored in the paint. Then the excitement started at Rose Hill.

Peters entered the game for Fordham and scored off an inbounds pass to cut the lead to one. She would score again following a steal to give the Rams a 43-42 lead with 9:11 to play. They would lead the rest of the way as Peters grabbed another steal and Bell knocked down a three-pointer to give the Rams a four-point advantage with 9:03 to play. Following forced turnovers, Peters and Bell would convert on layups, and Hurst converted on a traditional three-point play to give the Rams a 53-46 lead with 5:21 to go. It was off to the races from there. Fordham outscored Manhattan, 14-3, in the game’s final seven minutes.

Quick to point out that this is a team game and team effort, Hurst said that no single Ram is more important to the offense than any other. While her 19 points stand out, Kristina Bell’s nine, Takita Earl and Weekes’ eight, Megan Mahoney’s seven, and Peters’ six, were all crucial points. With a team in the midst of a 35-game losing streak, every possession is critical. Zopf had three points and Tiffany Stokes added two to round out the scoring.

“Our kids got the great shots at the end,” Andruzzi said.

And perhaps what was most impressive was the poise the Rams showed down the stretch. For a team learning how to win, they looked like they had been there before. After leading 20-9 midway through the first half, Manhattan began to cut into the Fordham lead, trailing by only two at the half. The Jaspers tied the game at 27 early in the second half and again at 33 on a three-pointer by Kerri White. From there, Regan and Alyssa Herrington found the shooting touch and it looked like Friday night all over again. Then, the Fordham defense kicked in, the intensity returned, and Fordham, long overdue, was able to celebrate.

“This team is so resilient,” Andruzzi said. “They’ve made a commitment to Fordham University and Fordham basketball. They learned a lesson from last year. They worked hard to get to this point today.”

Her players agree.

“We’ve been working hard all off-season,” Zopf said. ”It feels so good to know that the hard work paid off. Tonight is definitely going to help us out in the future to get some wins.”

The Fordham women look for their first win since the 2006-2007 season tonight when they take on the Manhattan Jaspers at the Rose Hill Gym. Fordham SportsNet will be there for the 7:00 tip as the Rams look to end the program’s 35-game losing streak.

Fordham opened up the season Friday night with a disappointing 69-57 loss at home to Princeton. After leading for most of the game, the Rams were outscored 25-7 in the game’s final eight minutes. They look to rebound tonight against 1-1 Manhattan, who beat St. Francis and fell to Massachusetts in their first two games of the new season. They are led by Lindsey Loutsenhizer, who is averaging 14 points and six rebounds in the team’s first two games, and Michelle Pacheco, who is averaging 12 points and four assists on the young season. For Fordham, Randall Hurst led the way Friday night with a team-high 18 points while Annie Zopf chipped in with 14 points.

This is the 40th meeting between the two schools, with the Jaspers holding a 22-17 edge. Manhattan topped Fordham, 65-53, last year as the Jaspers finished the season with a 15-15 record.

Tonight is Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night at Rose Hill. If you can’t make it out to the game, WFUV.org will have live coverage of the annual “Battle of the Bronx” beginning at 6:50 with the pregame show, and Fordham SportsNet will have a full recap of all the night’s action.

BY CHARLES COSTELLO
Despite leading for the game’s first 34 minutes, Fordham could not hold on in their season opener at Rose Hill, as the Tigers clawed back to outscore the Rams 35-13 in the game’s final 12 minutes to close out a 69-57 Princeton win Friday night at the Rose Hill Gym.

Fordham led 43-34 coming out of the media timeout with 11:32 left in the game. However, Princeton’s Lauren Edwards and Addie Micir combined for 19 points down the stretch, leading the way as Princeton went on a 21-3 run late in the game to secure the win.

The Tigers did not lead in this contest until Micir’s three pointer put them ahead 51-50 with 6:04 to go in the game. It was a lead they would not relinquish. And a far cry from the start of the game when Fordham’s strong defense forced early turnovers which the Rams were able to convert into points, leading by as many as 13 with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior Randall Hurst dominated inside in the first half, scoring 14 points, and along with a stifling defense that held the Tigers scoreless for a four minute stretch late in the half, the Rams looked like they were on track for their first win in two seasons.

However, eighteen points from Hurst and 14 points from senior Annie Zopf were not enough as Princeton overcame early trouble against Fordham’s pressure defense and clutch offense to send the Rams home with a loss.

Takita Earl led the Rams with six rebounds while Zopf had six assists.

Fordham will take on Manhattan Wednesday night at 7:00 at the Rose Hill Gym. The game can be heard live on WFUV.org.