The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team won a closely contested game versus former Northeast Conference rival Rider University, 82-77, at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, NJ on Sunday afternoon. The Knights improve to 2-2 on the season, while the Broncs fall to 1-3 overall.
Four Knights scored in double figures as they scored a season high in points. Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) led the team with a season high 23 points, while Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) poured in a season high 22 points. Jordan Sykes (Avalon, NJ/Holy Spirit) added 14 points, and Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) chipped in 11 points in her season debut. Mayrose led the squad on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds, while Sykes dished out six assists to lead the team.
The Knights jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Rider answered back and knotted the game at 6. After five lead changes and two ties in the game's first eight minutes, Rider went on a 21-9 run to take a 37-25 lead. However, FDU would respond with a 10-0 run, capped by a Laury jumper, to cut the lead to two before Rider's Amanda Sepulveda knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the first half three seconds before halftime to put Rider up 40-35 at the break.
Laury led the Knights in the first half with 11 points. Mayrose added nine points and five rebounds. Rider outrebounded the Knights 22-18, but FDU had 14 points off of 10 Rider turnovers.
The Knights opened the second half with a 28-16 run to grab a 63-56 advantage over the first nine minutes. FDU shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and held the Broncs to 44 percent from the floor for both the second half and the game.
Jenna Strich's three-pointer with 15:41 to go in the second half tied the game at 49-49. After each team exchanged baskets, Sanders' three-point play catapulted a 26-11 run by the Knights to go up 77-62 with 4:14 to go in the second half.
The Broncs were not done as they answered the Knight's run with a 15-3 run of their own to cut the FDU lead to 80-77 with 40 seconds left. However, Mayrose was able to knock down two free throws with four seconds left to seal the victory for the Knights
"I am very proud of our team effort," said Head Coach Pete Cinella. "We had to battle all 40 minutes. Our players were very mentally tough. I thought we played well when we were down early, but we hung in there and played great in the second half. Every player contributed."
Cintella Spotwood led three Broncs in double-digits, as she scored 23 points. Sepulveda added 20 points and Tammy Meyers had 12.
Rider held only a slight edge on the boards, 41-38, but FDU had 11 steals and forced 19 turnovers by the Broncs.
The Knights are back in action at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24 against Fordham University in The Bronx, NY.
