Bre Cavanaugh had a game high 27 points on Saturday afternoon as the Fordham Rams knocked off the Maine Black Bears 72-64 in overtime at the Holiday Classic at Rose Hill Gym in Bronx, NY in non-conference women’s basketball action. The game saw a tied score 10 times, and had 17 lead changes.
Maine (7-5) started strong and held an early 19-11 lead after one quarter. Fordham however turned up the defensive intensity to outscore the Bears 17-6 in the second quarter and take a 28-25 halftime lead. Maine took a short lead of 29-28 on a Blanca Millan jumper in the third, but Fordham jumped back up by five and held a 45-44 advantage into the fourth.
Maine held a two point edge three times in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws by Tanesha Sutton with 18 seconds left. Fordham tied it up and sent it to the extra session when Cavanaugh threw up an air ball on a three point attempt, but the ball was caught under the rim by Kaitlyn Downey who flipped it up off the window with two seconds left to send it to the overtime. The Black Bears though would head to the extra period without Millan and Sutton who both fouled out, and also without Parise Rossignol who took a hard fall on her back in the third quarter and didn’t return.
The hosts took advantage of that in overtime by outscoring Maine 11-3 in the session, that included the first five points from Cavanaugh to send the Bears to their third straight loss.
Millan led three players in double figures for Maine with 16 points and five rebounds. Dor Saar had 15 points, and Sutton finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. For 8-5 Fordham, Cavanaugh added eight rebounds to her point total, while Lauren Holden had 11 points, and Kendell Heremaia added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Maine will play Chattanooga (4-10) in the third place game Sunday at 1 pm. The Mocs lost their eighth consecutive game to Middle Tennesee State in the other opening round game Saturday. It will be MTSU (9-3) vs Fordham (8-5) in the title matchup later Sunday afternoon. The Maine-Chattanooga matchup will be only the second time the two teams have ever met, as the Bears defeated the Mocs back in 2016 at the Naismith Classic in Springfield, Mass.
