The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team was upended, 46-35, on the campus of Delaware State University, Saturday, Dec. 13 at Memorial Hall in Dover. The Knights slipped to 2-6 overall; sophomore guard Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) came one point short of her first career double-double.
Mayrose ? who nearly played the entire game for a second-consecutive occasion ? finished with nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange)'s 10 second half points (12 total) couldn't combat DSU's 29-spot over the final 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard Cortney Crockett and junior guard Keyhana Wakefield combined for 19 second half points, as the Hornets improved to 2-5 on the year. Crockett poured in 10 points over the period, en route to a game-best 14 points. Wakefield went for 12 points ? nine coming in the second stanza.
Delaware State scored 22 points off turnovers, and registered 21 offensive rips. Crockett knocked down seven field goals. Seven student-athletes grabbed at least two rebounds for the home-standing squad, led by junior center Thea Littlepage's nine caroms.
Laury triggered an 11-0 surge to start the afternoon, intercepting a pass and taking it the length of the floor for two. She capped things with a no-look bounce pass into the post, where sophomore forward Kayla Killian (Cliffwood Beach, NJ/St. John Vianney) banked in her first hoop of the year. Killian ultimately struck for a career-high two field goals and four points.
During the run, junior forward Christy Altamirano (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) dished to freshman center Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) on the left block for a basket. Mayrose added back-to-back buckets, starting with a three from NBA range.
Delaware State got on the board, halting a 5:37 scoring drought, with a three-ball courtesy of Wakefield. An eventual string of 11-straight evened the contest, 11 up, with 7:59 remaining.
Mayrose got the Knights back on the board after a span of 7:52, striking in transition via a swipe by senior guard Nasim Ahmadzadeh (Uppsala, Sweden/Lofstromsgymnasium). However, Delaware State gained its first lead of the game at the 2:53 mark, 15-13.
“We did a good job controlling the tempo in the first half and put together a great defensive effort,” Head Coach Peter Cinella said. “But in the second half, we didn't do a good job taking care of the ball and needed to rebound the ball much better.”
The count was knotted, 17-17, at halftime. Mayrose set the tone with seven points and eight boards, but Fairleigh Dickinson turned the ball over 14 times. Meanwhile, the Hornets' bench doubled up FDU's output.
The second half was ushered in by a deuce from Mayrose, before DSU rattled off six unanswered. The Hornets kept the pressure on ? draining a tandem of efforts from downtown ? en route to a 29-21 margin with 12:44 left.
Laury swished a trey, amidst accounting for seven-straight Fairleigh Dickinson points. Altamirano connected on a short fade-away in the lane, cutting the deficit to 36-31 at the 7:55 mark. Delaware State then put together an 8-0 response to seal the contest.
Fairleigh Dickinson wraps-up a six-game road trip, Tuesday, Dec. 30 in Olean, NY. The Knights face St. Bonaventure University at 2:00 p.m.
