Welcome to the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tipoff for the 2018-19 Season. Today, we feature the Fordham Rams.
Fordham (Predicted A-10 Finish: T-3rd)
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When a veteran coach like Rams’ coach Stephanie Gaitley lauds the chemistry of her team as being the best ever, take note.
“It’s the best since I’ve been here,” said Gaitley, in her eighth season at Fordham and the winningest coach in school history.
Fordham returns a core of scorers in Bre Cavanaugh, Lauren Holden and Mary Goulding from a Fordham team that nearly beat Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals and then made a run in the WNIT, defeating Harvard and Drexel.
Cavanaugh should be stronger defensively this year, and Holden is playing with more confidence having logged so many minutes last season.
The bigs are still healing from nagging injuries from Fordham. Sophomore center Vilisi Tavui continues to recover from a knee injury, and Halei Gillis is recovering from symptoms after a concussion.
This young, hungry group is looking to do big things at Fordham, and why expect anything less with Gaitley at the helm?
Coach: Stephanie Gaitley, 8thseason at Fordham 144-86 and 33rdseason overall, 608-356 overall
Last year: 24-10, 12-4; advanced to WNIT Sweet 16 where they lost to Virginia Tech, 81-50
They’ll miss: G’mrice Davis, the program’s first All-American who was the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and a All-Conference First Team selection.
Impact returners: 5-8 redshirt sophomore guard Bre Cavanaugh, who set school rookie records for starts (34), minutes (1,306) and averaged 17 ppg; 5-5 senior guard Lauren Holden, who set a program record with 1,333 minutes played, averaged 10.6 ppg and has 155 career 3-pointers; 6-0 senior forward Mary Goulding, 8.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg is healthy again after knee and hand injuries suffered last season.
Newbies of note: 5-8 graduate student guard Alexa Giuliano, a transfer from Columbia who played AAU play with Cavanaugh, 146 career 3-pointers. They call her “Lex.”
Reasons to be optimistic: Gaitley has established herself as one of the premier coaches in the league, having surpassed the 600-career win mark last season. She’s led her teams to postseason play 16 times and to the NCAA Tournament eight times. She knows how to get the most from a team and have it peak at the right time.
She’s thrilled to add a 3-point threat in Columbia transfer Giuliano and over the moon about the improvement in sophomore guard Kendell Heremaia, who started seven times last season and received the Most Improved award from her teammates.
“Kendell has gotten her act together from a conditioning standpoint,” Gaitley said. “I can’t see her not starting and being a solid contributor.”
A freshman who could make an impact: 6-1 forward Kaitlyn Downey, salutatorian of her class at Mary Regina High in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where she graduated as the all-time leading scorer, rebounder and assist leader.
X-factor: Fordham touts four freshmen and nine sophomores. How quickly the youth blends with experience will be key for the conference season.
Circle the date: The Rams lost 65-60 last year at Penn State after leading by 10 with six minutes left. They’ll host the rematch at historic Rose Hill Gymnasium on Nov. 14.
Bottom line: Given how much Gaitley raves about the work ethic and togetherness of this group, there’s no doubt that these Rams will be a thorn in the thicket of the A-10 hunt. Expect them to really connect during the second half of conference season.