The night of Jan. 31 did not end well for the Fordham women’s basketball team. Despite a moderate scoring deficit, the Rams dropped their eighth game in their last 10 Atlantic 10 (A10) outings, this time to the George Mason University (GMU) Patriots, 54-47.
This certainly wasn’t the worst performance by the women’s basketball team — see this season’s Nov. 12, 2023 loss to Miami University or their Dec. 21, 2023 meltdown against Virginia. The game on Wednesday, however, was yet another heartbreak: a close contest, lost to free throws and poor field goal shooting. The Rams’ record now stands at 7-14 overall.
Within minutes of tipoff at EagleBank Stadium, both teams struggled to find their form. Shots stubbornly refused to fall, and going into the second quarter no team had a decisive advantage.
In the game’s first minute, the Patriots opened the score with a layup by Jazmyn Doster, GMU ’24. For the rest of the quarter, the Rams were forced to play catch up. Fordham did find moderate success in fastbreak actions while half court sets for the Rams were hit or miss. Taylor Donaldson, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’24, who averages 18 points per game, tried to propel her team to a successful run.
Fordham leads the A10 in steals, averaging 10 per game, but the first quarter was marred by the Rams’ lackluster defensive play. George Mason found wide open lanes to exploit, and despite converting at a low clip, Fordham was clearly in trouble.
Throughout the quarter, the Rams quickly responded to each of GMU’s shots but never took the lead themselves through a series of back-and-forth shots by Aminata Ly, FCRH ’24; Ta’Viyanna Habib, GMU ’25; Donaldson and Doster, respectively. As the quarter drew to a close Sonia Smith, GMU ’24, received a screen from Doster and floated into a 3-point shot, nailing it from a foot behind the line. A layup from Zahirah Walton, GMU ’26, placed the Patriots in the lead with 11-6 at the buzzer.
Despite the rocky start, Fordham saved face and maneuvered its way to a 13-point tie at the end of the first, setting up for a strong second quarter for the Rams.
While Fordham had been keeping up for the whole game, hopes for a comeback grew slim as the clock dwindled.
Just 15 seconds into the second quarter, Fordham broke from its earlier trend with a 3-pointer from Donaldson. The Rams peaked with a 6-point lead at the 6-minute mark, but the Patriots clawed their way back into competition by way of a 10-4 run going into halftime, ending the first half of the game with Fordham in the lead, 25-24.
At the outset of the second half, George Mason made it clear that the previous quarter was an exception, not the rule. With two back-to-back 3-pointers by Habib and a third by Smith in the second minute of the half, the team kicked off what would be their strongest quarter of the game.
The Patriots ran away in the third quarter, taking a commanding 11-point lead by the end of the period, but they were not met without resistance from the Rams. A layup by Matilda Flood, FCRH ’24, and a jumper by Kaila Berry, FCRH ’26, kept the score within arm’s reach. As the quarter drew to a close, Rose Nelson, FCRH ’26, kicked the ball out to Donaldson, who promptly rose up from the corner and drained a 3-pointer.
While Fordham had been keeping up for the whole game, hopes for a comeback grew slim as the clock dwindled. The quarter ended with George Mason in command, 43-33.
Fordham will return home on Feb. 7 to face off against the University of Dayton Flyers as the conference schedule continues.
As the buzzer sounded to announce the final period, play became scrappy on both sides. With such a decisive lead heading into the fourth quarter, George Mason only needed to keep Fordham at bay. After an opening layup by Donaldson, Habib scored yet another 3-pointer to expand the Patriots’ lead to 11, 46-35. Throughout the rest of the quarter — including a 3-minute long drought marked by steals, blocks, turnovers and endless substitutions — this lead would never dip below five points. The game ended with two successful free-throws from Taylor Jameson, GMU ’24.
Fordham flew home to New York despondent following another loss and now a 7-14 record on the season. The Rams had an opportunity to turn things around the following weekend, however. The women’s team returned to Virginia on Saturday to compete against the University of Richmond (UR) Spiders.
In the first quarter, the Spiders took command. Within five minutes, Richmond was up 12-5 having shot an exceptional 83% from beyond the arc. Donaldson kept Fordham afloat with a 3-pointer, but things were off to a rocky start for the Rams. By the end of the first quarter, the Spiders were in total control, 27-15.
The second quarter was a different story entirely, as Fordham woke up and shot over 40% from the field and held Richmond to 27%. In the final minute of the half, Donaldson nailed a three to tie the game at 31, but she was quickly thwarted by Grace Townsend, UR ’25, who laid the ball up to give the Spiders a 33-31 edge going into the locker room.
Fordham kept up the good shooting in the third quarter but were simply outpaced and outperformed by Richmond as the Spiders took a 10-point lead into the final period. By the fourth quarter, Fordham was exhausted. The Rams shot a dismal 27% from the field and 16% from three and allowed the Spiders to end the game up 19 points, 79-60 — a decisive rout.
Fordham will return home on Feb. 7 to face off against the University of Dayton Flyers as the conference schedule continues.
