The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team avenged its only overtime blemish of the season, defeating visiting Monmouth University, 75-54, Monday, Feb. 18 at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ. The Knights' (10-15 overall, 6-8 Northeast Conference) victory ensured a head-to-head tie in the Garden State Rivalry Series, grabbing a 2-1 command.
Sophomore forward Christy Altamirano (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) (Bayonne, NJ) registered a season-high 19 points, while hauling down seven boards and dishing out a career-best five assists. Senior forward Jennifer Walkling (Westminster, MD/Westminster) (Westminster, MD) recorded 14 points, nine rebounds and four dimes. Senior guard Shanay Freeman (Laurelton, NY/Towsend Harris) (Laurelton, NY) poured in 12 points in the second-half to stabilize the offense.
Fairleigh Dickinson grabbed a 2-0 lead to start the contest, before Hawks' (7-18 overall, 4-9 NEC) junior guard Marisa Jiminez (Carteret, NJ) connected from behind the arc. Senior center Mercedez Walker (Stratford, CT/Bunnell) (Stratford, CT) battled through a bump on the left block for a lay-in with 17:09 remaining to regain the advantage, and the Knights never looked back.
Freshman guard Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) (Trenton, NJ) finagled her way into the passing lane at the top of the key and senior forward Nikki Lockhart (Rochester, NY/Nazareth Academy) (Rochester, NY) finished off the break with an offensive put-back at the 15:47 mark to put FDU ahead. Saunders ? who notched four steals ? struck on the ensuing possession, posting up her defender and banking-in a turnaround jumper for an 11-7 advantage.
The Knights went up, 19-13, with 12:21 left, as freshman guard Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) delivered an entry pass to Walkling on the right block for a deuce. Mayrose made it an eight-point lead with a swipe and conversion, followed by a backdoor lay-in by Walkling, ultimately capping a 10-0 home-standing run.
Monmouth junior forward Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, NY) crashed the offensive glass for two at the 8:26 mark, creating a 25-15 deficit. Her bucket halted a 4:53 scoring drought. Hawks' junior forward LaKia Barber (Clinton, MD) then brought the count back to single-digits with a bucket down low.
Altamirano canned a three-ball with 6:46 left to stretch things to 28-17. More than three minutes later she flashed down low for an easy hoop to bring the score to 34-20.
“This is the best game ? the best 40 minutes we've played all year,” Head Coach Peter Cinella said. “A lot of different people contributed tonight and we made a lot of hustle plays. Christy posted aggressively, while the team moved the ball well.”
Fairleigh Dickinson hit the break up, 39-24, with senior guard Megan Kirkland (Glen Allen, VA/Hermitage) (Glen Allen, VA) popping a trey with 21 seconds left in the half. Altamirano led all scorers with 11 points, while Walkling contributing eight. Bender and Barber both tallied six points. The Knights ripped down six more boards than Monmouth ? the NEC's top rebounding squad ? during the initial 20 minutes.
In the second stanza, Freeman came off a perimeter screen and stepped into a three-pointer at the 17:33 mark, as FDU held command by 14 points. Mayrose connected from long-range on the left side with 15:18 left ? good for a 47-32 margin.
MU chipped away to 47-40, on the strength of an eight-point push punctuated by an offensive rip and reward courtesy of Barber. Freeman responded for FDU with a fade-away from 19 feet, followed by a hook shot from Walkling with 11:06 remaining.
With 9:28 remaining, Freeman nailed a trifecta from straight on to extend Fairleigh Dickinson's cushion to 56-42. Walkling chucked an outlet pass to a streaking Freeman at the 7:26 mark to move the score to 60-44.
The Knights secured the victory up by their largest stronghold of the contest ? 21 points. Monmouth was paced by Bender's nine points and 13 rebounds. Barber added eight points and 12 boards.
By the end of the evening, fans packed the Rothman Center for the pair of televised contests, resulting in patches of pink and red in support of the day's fund-raising doubleheader. Ticket proceeds from the two match-ups went to Gilda's Club in Hackensack, as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's “Think Pink” initiative to raise breast cancer awareness.
FDU joined the ranks of more than 1,000 institutions taking part of the WBCA's “Think Pink” program, with the women's squad donning pink shoe laces. Cinella's coaching staff, as well as athletic administration wore pink. Men's Head Coach Tom Green and his assistants sported red ties. The initiative ? which officially began Feb. 8 ? has raised over $210,000 across the country.
The women's team fell by six earlier this season in West Long Branch, NJ, while the men won by four. Since the two universities eventually tied (2-2), the Knights' 19-point pad prior to the men's game secured FDU's first annual Garden State Rivalry Series hardware throughout the off-season.
Fairleigh Dickinson travels to Brooklyn Heights, NY to take on St. Francis College at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23.
