How Sweet it is.
Fordham advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Women’s NIT tournament on Saturday afternoon, beating Boston University 58-44 at Rose Hill Gym in The Bronx.
“We’ve never been to the Sweet 16,” Fordham head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “I’m just so proud of the team. I’m so happy for them because this is something that will live on forever in their memories. They’ve done something that has never been done here.”
The Rams came out of the gate looking a bit sluggish, something that happened in their first round matchup against Army last Thursday, but quickly turned things around thanks to Marah Strickland (14 points) and some sharpshooting from beyond the arc.
Stickland hit two treys, quickly followed by a 3-pointer of her own from Erin Rooney (12 points), and Fordham turned a 6-2 deficit into a 17-8 lead that it would not forfeit for the rest of the game.
“I think we tend to start off slow,” Strickland said. “When our buckets don’t fall, we just try and get back on defense and I think we did that [today]. Our defense definitely triggers our offense.”
At two points in the second half the Terriers would threaten the Rams’ lead. After Whitney Turner and Mo Moran hit back-to-back shots to cut Fordham’s lead to just five, freshman forward Samantha Clark stepped up, nailing a 3-point shot and a layup to extend the Rams lead back to double-figures.
“Sam is a great presence,” Strickland said. “She’s so composed for a freshman. She always has that spark, she’s a strong post player. She always brings it.”
Minutes later, after another 7-0 run by the Terriers, Gaitley decided it was time to put Rooney back into the game despite the redshirt junior having four fouls and just over 10:30 to play. With Rooney back in the game, Fordham would outscore Boston 17-9 for the rest of the contest, sending the Rams to the Sweet 16.
“[Rooney] is a calming presence and I could see some of our kids getting tired,” Gaitley said. “I knew that they were making a run and I had to go with my gut [and put Rooney back in]. I felt with her on the court it gave us another ball handler and I think we had some mismatch opportunities against [Boston].”
Senior point guard Arielle Collins had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Rams, who became the second-most successful team in program history picking up their 26th win.
Collins, a Hamilton, N.J. native, came to Fordham just two seasons after the 0-29 debacle in 2007-08 and had an entire section of the historic gym cheering her on.
“Looking back on my past three years and seeing how hard we have all worked to get to this point,” Collins said. “It really is a blessing. Just finishing out my senior year with a great memory of Fordham women’s basketball.”
With the win, Fordham will wait to learn if it will play James Madison or N.C. State in the third round of the WNIT. It also marks the furthest any team coached by Gaitley, who has 502 career wins, has ever made it in postseason play.
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com