Fopma was born in Leiden, Holland, as her family was there due to her father playing professional basketball there. Both of her parents were from California originally, and the family moved to California when Fopma was a year old so that she and her older brother could start school in the U.S.  A long-time friend of current partner Stacy Rouwenhorst, both went to the same high school.

Fopma began her career at Pepperdine, then transferred to Cal State-Northridge. At Pepperdine she was named second-team all-West Coast Conference. In her one season at Northridge, she was a first-team all-Big West selection and a third-team All-American, becoming the first Division I All-American in CSUN's history. She helped both Pepperdine and CSUN to the NCAA Tournament and was named All-Region with both teams.