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Who? The Rams of Fordham.
What? Because "damn" just wasn't appropriate for the gentlemen of a Jesuit school.
Where? The Bronx, New York, in one of the oldest and loveliest gyms out there.
When? March 9th, in Richmond, Virginia.
Why? They won the Atlantic-10 conference tournament.
How? A huge second half for the Rams overshadowed a nip-and-tuck first half as Fordham took out top-seeded Dayton 63-51. Erin Rooney's 13 points and 13 rebounds led Fordham. Emily Tapio (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Abigail Corning (12 points, 11 rebounds) also notched double-doubles for Fordham. Andrea Hoover had 22 points for the Flyers, but no other Dayton player had more than eight.
Surprise? Predicted to finish fourth in the conference, they ended up in third, losing a tiebreaker with St. Bonaventure but ahead of George Washington.
RPI: 49
SOS: 129
Record: 25-7 (11-5 A-10)
Good wins: Dayton in the A-10 final. Harvard probably looked better before the Crimson fell apart.
Bad losses: At Hofstra.
Who's driving this thing? Stephanie Gaitley, since 2011, most recently at Monmouth.
Extra, Extra! Good luck with that.
Utterly fearless senior guard Erin Rooney leads the Rams with 17.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, but she's far from the only threat Fordham has. Senior Abigail Corning adds 12.6 points and 6.5 boards per game. Freshman Hannah Missry is a three-point sniper (36.3% on the season) who can get hot in a hurry. I still find their most intriguing player to be sophomore forward Samantha Clark, a big girl with some outside touch and a mean screen.