The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team lost, 53-49, Wednesday, Nov. 22 to home-standing Binghamton University (2-2) in Vestal, NY. Junior forward Jennifer Walkling (Westminster, MD/Westminster) (Westminster, MD) poured in a game-high 20 points, in addition to grabbing eight boards for the Knights (1-3).
The two teams exchanged buckets to open the game, with Walkling tallying FDU's first four points. Bearcats' forward Brianna Thompson (Chehalis, WA) ? who had a game-high 14 rebounds ? hit the offensive glass and converted put-back to shift BU ahead, 8-4 with 15:28 remaining.
Guard Laura Sario (Espoo, Finland) knocked down a trey at the 11:18 mark, en route to scoring nine points in the initial 20 minutes and sparking a 10-0 Binghamton run.
Freshman guard Jordan Sykes (Avalon, NJ/Holy Spirit) (Avalon, NJ) drained a three-pointer from straight-away to close the gap to 18-11 with 7:30 left. She pilfered an inbounds pass with 4:01 left, crossed up her defender and stepped back behind the arc for a three-ball to cut the deficit to 25-16 ? marking her eighth-straight point.
Walkling finished off a three-point play at the 2:13 mark, followed by a lay-up by freshman forward Christy Altamirano (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) (Bayonne, NJ) with four seconds remaining in the half.
The Knights trailed 27-21 at the break. The Bearcats shot 50 percent from downtown in the first-half, but turned the ball over on up on 14 occasions ? a byproduct of Fairleigh Dickinson's high-gear zone defense. Guard Rebecka Lindgren (Oskarhamn, Sweden) lifted BU with eight points, while Walkling countered with nine points.
“We struggled offensively and had pretty poor shot selection,” Head Coach Sandy Gordon said. “They doubled down on the weak side well.”
Sykes ? who notched 12 points and seven rebounds ? hit a runner off-glass to open the second-half. The Bearcats' Lindgren pushed the lead back to double-digits, 33-23, with a three-ball at 17:42.
Senior forward Mercedez Walker (Stratford, CT/Bunnell) (Stratford, CT) capitalized on the right block from a feed by Walkling a shade more than a minute later, creating a 33-27 contest. Two possessions later, junior guard Shanay Freeman (Laurelton, NY/Towsend Harris) (Laurelton, NY) canned a three-ball.
A lay-in by Walkling with 5:36 left ended an 8:27 drought from the floor and kick-started a 7-1 surge by the Knights. She scored again down low with 58 seconds remaining to tie the contest, 49-49.
A free throw by Thompson with 15 seconds on the clock iced the BU victory.
“You're not going to win too many games scoring 49 points,” Gordon said. “Our defense kept us in the game and if we hit a few more foul shots, we're in things.”
Eight players scored for the Bearcats ? who didn't trail all afternoon ? led by 16 points from Sario and 12 by Lindgren. Thompson finished with 13 points.
The Knights make their home debut versus Lafayette College at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29 at the Rothman Center.
