No. 12 Syracuse (24-8, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) hosts Fordham (25-8, 13-3 Atlantic 10) at the Carrier Dome in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 1 p.m. on Saturday. SU is the No. 3-seed in the Portland region and earned an at-large bid after falling to No. 3 Notre Dame in the ACC tournament semifinals two weeks ago. Fordham, the No. 14-seed, last played on March 10, when it defeated Virginia Commonwealth in the A10 tournament championship. The Rams are currently riding a 12-game winning streak and haven’t lost since Jan. 27, with nine of those wins coming by double-digits.

Here’s what to know before Saturday’s matchup.

All-time series: The series is tied, 2-2

Last time they played: Syracuse defeated Fordham, 76-54, on Nov. 28, 2015, in the Las Vegas South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. Alexis Peterson paced the Orange with 25 points, eight assists and five steals on just eight shot attempts. The Rams had three scorers with 12 points including Lauren Holden, who was a freshman at the time and is the only current player on either roster who played in the teams’ previous meeting. SU began the fourth quarter up just 5 points but opened the period with a 16-0 run to break the game open.

The Fordham report: Fordham comes into Saturday’s game as one of the hottest teams in the tournament. Despite their dozen straight victories and 25 total wins, though, the Rams have played just one contest this season against a ranked opponent. That matchup came on Nov. 25, when they fell to then-No. 10 Texas, 72-54.

Fordham enters the NCAA tournament ranked 82nd in RPI, top in the Atlantic 10 but behind 11 teams in the ACC. The Rams have the 7th-best scoring defense in the country at 53.9 points per game, nearly 14 points fewer than the Orange allow on average. Offensively they are not as strong, averaging just 60.5 points per game — 264th in the nation. The Rams are led by redshirt sophomore guard Bre Cavanaugh, who is averaging 17.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. Senior forward Mary Goulding is Fordham’s best player however. The New Zealand native is the only other player on the team who averages double-figures in scoring and also leads the Rams in 3-point percentage, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

This is the third NCAA tournament berth ever for Fordham, which first earned a berth in 1994 after winning the Patriot League. Its most recent appearance came five years ago, when the Rams reached the tournament for the first time under head coach Stephanie Gaitley. They earned the 10-seed that year and led 7-seed California late in the game, but missed out on their first NCAA tournament win after the Golden Bears hit a go-ahead shot with 14 seconds left.

How Syracuse beats Fordham: The Orange are the better team in this matchup, and they need to make use of their talent advantage early. A good way to do this would be to shut down Fordham’s offense, which shouldn’t be too hard. The Rams are a generally-poor shooting team, having shot just 39.4 percent from the field this season. If they have any chance at upsetting the Orange, it’ll be done through 3s. Fordham has taken the 22nd-most 3s in the country this year, and if Syracuse’s 2-3 zone can hold firm on those triples, it’ll be in good shape.

Should SU be able to shut down the Rams on the perimeter, it’ll grab the lead early and run with it. Fordham is a team that hasn’t lost since Jan. 27, so once the Orange jump ahead, it very well may be for good. Offensively, Syracuse boasts a top-20 offense to counter the Rams’ top-10 defense. Even if Fordham has a hot shooting day from outside, SU should be able to run by the Rams with its up-tempo, high-scoring style of play. The Orange have the best offense Fordham has seen all season, and that’ll pose an issue for their in-state foe.

Stat to know: 53.9 – The number of points Fordham allows on average per game. That not only tops the Atlantic 10, but is fewer than any ACC team allowed per game this season. The Rams’ defense features three players with 30 or more steals and is coming off two games in which it allowed only 81 points combined. The best defense statistically that the Orange faced this season was Central Florida’s, which allows 55.6 per game and held SU to a then-season low 57 points on Dec. 22.

Player to watch: Bre Cavanaugh, guard, No. 10

While Mary Goulding’s skillset may make her Fordham’s most complete player, if the Rams upset the Orange, it’ll be Cavanaugh leading the way. The redshirt sophomore earned second-team All-Atlantic 10 honors last year in her first season at Fordham after transferring from California. This season, she’s been even better. Cavanaugh has the ability to explode offensively on any given night, and is playing her best basketball of the year. She’s averaging 24 points over her last four contests, including a season-high 29 points against Massachusetts in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament.

Published on March 22, 2019 at 1:40 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34