Box Score

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team dropped a tough 64-56 decision to St. Francis Brooklyn Saturday afternoon in Northeast Conference action at the Pope Physical Education Center. With the victory, the Terriers improve to 6-10 (3-2 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 8-8 (3-2 NEC) overall.

After finding itself down 48-37 nearly seven minutes into the second half, FDU outscored SFC, 16-5, to knot the game at 53 with 4:52 to go.

The Terriers answered with four straight points before Miah Register (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic)'s three from the right wing cut the lead to 57-56 with 1:40 remaining, but it was the final points the Knights would score as SFC scored the last seven points to seal the victory.

Redshirt junior Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) led the Knights with 14 points, four assists and four steals, while going 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore Stephanie Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) added 13 points, going 4-of-7 from three-point range. She also had three rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) picked up her 13th double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while junior Desiree Crawford (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic) and senior Torrie Childs (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central) each pulled down nine boards.

After taking a 6-4 lead on a pair of deep three-pointers from Isaacs, the Terriers answered with a 13-2 spurt to take a 17-8 lead with 10:38 left in the first half.

Trailing 20-12, FDU responded with a 13-3 run to regain the lead at 25-23 with 3:55 to go before halftime. Childs tied the contest on an old-fashion three-point play, and two free throws from Pankey gave the Knights the lead.

Down by one, sophomore Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) found Childs for a layup, with the shot clock winding down, to give FDU the lead back at 27-26, but the SFC scored seven of the final eight points of the half to go into the break up 33-28.

FDU shot only 28.6 percent (8-of-28) over the first 20 minutes, including only 2-of-9 from behind the arc, while the Terriers connected on 43.3 percent (13-of-30) of their shots and 3-of-8 from downtown.

The Knights managed to stay in the game by going 10-for-12 from the free throw line, as SFC knocked down 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Both sides grabbed 18 rebounds.

FDU went down six points to start the second half before an Isaacs' three-pointer from the top of the key and a Pankey free throw cut the lead to 36-34.

Nine unanswered points by the Terriers gave them their largest lead of the game, 45-34, with 14:30 to go in the game.

Still trailing by 11 at 48-37, Andrades knocked down a three from the top of the key to start the 16-5 game-tying run. Livermore capped the scoring with an 18-foot jumper to tie the game at 53 with less than five minutes remaining before SFC outscored the Knights, 9-3, to finish the game.

For the contest, FDU shot 34.7 percent (17-of-49) after shooting over 40 percent and 6-of-12 from three-point range in the second half.
Overall, the Knights knocked down 8-of-21 three's and 14-of-18 free throws.

The FDU defense held the Terriers to 33.3 percent (11-of-33, 1-of-10 from three-point range) over the final 20 minutes, as SFC finished the game shooting 38.1 percent (24-of-63) and 4-of-18 from downtown, while making 12-of-16 free throws.

SFC won the rebounding battle, 39-35, including 19-12 on the offensive glass. The Terriers dominated in the paint, outscoring the Knights, 34-14. They also forced 19 FDU turnovers, which resulted in 19 points, as the Knights scored only nine points on 12 turnovers.

“St. Francis played with great determination and hustle today,” Head Coach Peter Cinella said. “We have to focus on doing a better job on the boards and taking better care and decisions with the basketball.”

The Terriers' Sarah Benedetti led all scorers with 18 points, while Leah Fechko added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

FDU will return to conference action on Monday, Jan. 21 when it hosts LIU Brooklyn in a Stratis Arena matinee at 2 p.m.