The turnaround began in head coach Stephanie Gaitley's second season, 2012-13, when the Rams vaulted from 12th to 3rd in the Atlantic 10, moving from 3-11 to 12-2, and advancing to their first Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship game, where they fell to St. Joseph's 47-46.
Mark March 9, 2014 in the Rams' history books where the turnaround should be deemed complete.
Fordham used timely shooting, tremendous tenacity on the boards, especially on the offensive end, and a fighter's mentality to figuratively and literally knock off the number-one seed, the Dayton Flyers, 63-51 in the 2014 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Sunday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum.
The senior co-leaders of the Rams, Abigail Corning and Erin Rooney, each registered a double-double, Corning with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Rooney with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Rooney, despite her 5' 8" frame, was a rebounding force, helping lead the Rams to a 48-33 advantage on the glass.
Corning, for her work all weekend, was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
The disparity was noted and explained by a very disappointed Dayton head coach, Jim Jabir.
"We got outplayed, outcoached...they wanted it more and they executed wonderfully. When you give up 17 offensive rebounds and they shoot like they do, we don't have much of a chance at that point," Jabir said.
After an 89-68 win over George Washington characterized by Jabir as perhaps the team's best work so far this season, Sunday's performance were shockingly opposite.
"As well as we played yesterday, we played that poorly today. We were hesitant in our offense. As well as we executed yesterday, we were just jacking up shots today. We were out of sorts, and that's my fault."
Conference Player of the Year Andrea Hoover was the only Flyer to shoot 50 percent or better, and the only Dayton player in double figures with 22. Celeste Edwards scored six early, cooled, and finished with eight points on 4-of-15 shooting. Ally Malott went ice cold, going 2-for-11, finishing with 5 points.
The Flyers fall to 23-7 and still expect to be awarded an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced a week from Monday night. They were projected coming into Sunday as a #5 seed, up from a #6 seed after their strong semifinal performance. Now, that will all change, and Jabir will look for the right way to right the ship.
"I was very frank with them in the locker room. I told them exactly what I think the problem is and we're going to address the problem. We will get better. I think mentally we make excuses for ourselves sometimes," Jabir explained. "We rely on luck rather than being consistent and doing the same behavior the right way every time. I don't think we're really confident. If we make a couple of shots and things are going well, we play really well. If there's any kind of adversity, we struggle."
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For Gaitley, the victory in the Richmond Coliseum is a "full-circle" moment of sorts. She coached the University of Richmond from 1985 to 1991, winning 116 games and two Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships. After stops at St. Joseph's, Monmouth, and Long Island Universities, she was named Fordham's head coach on April 1, 2011. Just shy of three years later, she has the Rams in only their second NCAA Tournament, their first since 1994.
"I know the emotion of losing a championship, we experienced it a year ago," Gaitley reminded the press following the victory. "I would be remiss if my first comments weren't about my senior co-captains, Erin and Abigail. Abigail is the hardest working player I've ever coached, and that's not a knock on Erin. But Abigail plays hard in every possession, even in practice. Erin can sometimes make it look easier, Abigail is the little engine that could."
Rooney transferred to Fordham from Monmouth after Gaitley made the move, but not before almost declining. It wasn't until learning her preferred major in science was being added at Fordham that Rooney opted to follow Gaitley, and what followed was a brand new Rams program.
After sitting out the 2011-12 season per NCAA rules, Rooney averaged 13.9 points per game as Fordham advanced to the WNIT in 2012-13. This season, Rooney increased her accuracy from the field, averaged 18.2 points per game, and became the first Fordham player to be named First-Team All-Atlantic 10.
Winning the tournament championship was an overwhelming moment for Rooney.
"It's hard to describe. It's really just a feeling," Rooney said, pointing directly to her heart.
For Corning, who has seen it all in four years at Fordham, the turnaround is especially sweet.
"A complete 360, that's for sure. In my freshman year, to think we'd win the conference tournament, sitting her as champs today. It's really a credit to coach coming in sophomore year and turning the program around. We knew it would take some time. Our sophomore year, we played our hearts and we had talent but we didn't have all the pieces together. Last year we had the pieces, we just fell a point shy," Corning said.
(Abigail Corning, facing camera, shares the clipped net with senior co-captain Erin Rooney)
Corning and Rooney smiled widely while wearing their Atlantic 10 Champions hats and t-shirts. Following the press conference, they returned to the court and finished cutting down the nets.
For them, Gaitley and her staff, and the rest of the Fordham program, a statement was made, a title was won, and a ticket was punched, as the Rams were not forecast to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The only way to make sure you go to the Big Dance is to earn it. On this Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum, the Rams earned it, on both ends of the floor and in every way, large and small.
NOTES:
--Corning and Rooney were joined on the All-Tournament Team by Dayton's Hoover and Malott and VCU's Robyn Parks. Overlooked was George Washington guard Danni Jackson, who was in double figures in both of the Colonials' tournament games, and single-handedly tried to keep the Colonials in their semifinal loss to Dayton when the Flyers shut down leading scorer Jonquel Jones.
--The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Monday, March 17th at 7pm on ESPN. It will be a long wait for St. Joseph's. The tournament's #5 seed, who lost 82-79 in overtime to #4 George Washington in the quarterfinals on Friday, entered the tourney with an RPI of 17 and a Strength of Schedule of 20. Bracket projections gave the Hawks an at-large berth with a #9 or #10 seed. With Fordham grabbing the automatic Atlantic 10 berth, now the question will be if the committee will not deem the A-10 strong enough for three bids, and whether the Hawks could pay the price for that.
If based on individual team performance, the Flyers, Rams and Hawks should all see their names on television next Monday. In addition, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and VCU, in our projections, should see invites to the WNIT.
If seven teams out of the conference's 13 make the postseason, it would have to be considered a very successful season for the Atlantic 10, a year which saw a strong top half (VCU lost seven of their eight regular season games overall in conference) with teams beating up each other through January and February, and its first neutral court postseason tournament featuring all 13 teams this past weekend here in RVA.
Add to that touted recruiting classes at schools such as St. Louis and George Mason, and a Richmond team who will regroup after an injury-plagued year, and the Atlantic 10 will be ready to take yet another step up in quality of women's basketball overall.
But for today, the Fordham Rams wear the net and hold the trophy. And the love affair between a school and their team's co-leaders, nicknamed "Eri-Gail" by a media member after the contest, will continue as well.
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