ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis trimmed a 22-point Fordham lead to seven late in the second half, but the visiting Rams held on for a 56-45 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over the Billikens Wednesday night at Chaifetz Arena.
SLU, which came in with a three-game winning streak, slipped to 8-14 overall and 3-6 in the A-10. Fordham improved to 18-5, 7-3.
Denisha Womack scored 13 points, including a 6-of-6 performance from the foul line, to lead the Billiken offense. Erin Nelson tallied eight points, and Sadie Stipanovich corralled a game-high seven rebounds.
Fordham's Erin Rooney had game highs of 15 points and nine assists, while Samantha Clark (4-of-6 3-pointers) netted 14 points. The Rams earned a 35-26 advantage on the boards, with Emily Tapio and Abigail Corning pulling down a team-high six rebounds apiece.
Fordham shot 55.2 percent overall and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from 3-point range in the first half. Clark registered all four of her treys and Corning knocked down three triples in the opening period, and the Rams led 35-13 at the 6:33 mark before settling for a 42-25 halftime advantage.
Saint Louis held Fordham to 20.8 percent overall shooting (5-of-24) and 0-of-10 from beyond the arc in the second half. In fact, Fordham's 14 second-half points marked a season low for the Rams in any half.
Although SLU didn't take full advantage of its defensive effort right away, the Billikens eventually whittled the Fordham lead to single digits when Nelson's 3-pointer made it 47-40 with 5:50 remaining. Rooney and Womack traded buckets, and it was 49-42 with 4:13 to play.
However, the Billikens would draw no closer. Tapio scored on the Rams' next two possessions to push the margin to 11, and Mary Nwachukwu answered two Olivia Jakubicek free throws with a three-point play that put Fordham on top 56-44 with 1:40 left.
The Billikens travel to Fairfax, Va., to take on new A-10 member George Mason Saturday, Feb. 8. Game time is 1 p.m. (CT).
