NEW YORK – Cutting the deficit to just four points with under a minute to play, Fordham University women’s basketball fell to Xavier, 71-62, to close the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational.
Despite the loss, the Rams found themselves very much in the game throughout, leading by two halftime before battling back from down double digits in the fourth quarter, forcing Xavier to knock down a number of free throws late in the game. With Sunday marking the final game of non-conference play, the Rams fall to 6-5 while Xavier improved to 5-6.
For the second night in a row Taylor Donaldson dropped 24 points, once again leading the offense Sunday night, along with nine rebounds and five steals, the second time this season she’s collected five or more steals. Irene Murua had another efficient shooting night, draining 8-of-10 shots for 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds all on the offensive end.
In an absolute dominant effort on the glass, Fordham outrebounded Xavier 49-29 overall and collected 27 rebounds on the offensive end alone. Those second chance efforts marked the most offensive rebounds since Nov. 26, 2003 when the Maroon and White gathered 30 offensive boards against Dartmouth.
A low scoring affair to start, Fordham held the Musketeers without a field goal for more than five minutes, with the score level at just 2-2 to that point, with the Xavier points coming from the charity stripe to open the contest. The scoring picked up late, but the Rams ended the first quarter with just a 10-9 lead.
Xavier tallied the first seven points of the second period to pull ahead before seeing that lead erased less than three minutes later as Fordham pushed a 10-nothing run to retake the lead at 20-16. The two sides would trade baskets as the first half came to a close, with the Maroon and White taking a two-point cushion into the locker room.
Posting a game high 24-points in the third, the Musketeers came out of the break strong to outscore the Rams by 11 in the quarter, and take a 50-41 lead into the fourth. Evenly matched in the final ten minutes, each side posted 21 points in the final frame, with Xavier holding off a late rally by the Rams, who cut it to four with 38 seconds to go, before being outlasted at the free throw line to set the final.
Fordham will return to action just before the New Year, opening the Atlantic 10 side of the calendar with the first of 18-league games next Sunday, Dec. 29 on the road at UMass at 1:00 p.m.
