The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team avenged a mid-season loss to Mount St. Mary's University, Saturday, Feb. 7 in Hackensack, NJ. The Knights out-willed their Northeast Conference foe, en route to a 73-69 overtime victory.
Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) pioneered the comeback win, as Head Coach Peter Cinella's team improved to 7-15 overall and 6-6 in conference play. FDU had to survive three different scoring opportunities on the Mountaineers' final trip down the floor in overtime.
Mayrose poured in a career-high 30 points, coupled with 13 rebounds and four assists, thus collecting her second double-double in her last three NEC contests. The swing guard notched a pair of career-best efforts from 15 feet (14-of-15) to turn in the program's fourth-highest single-season scoring output in history. More importantly, Mayrose sacrificed her body by absorbing a charge with only six seconds remaining in OT to nullify the game-tying bucket.
The sophomore is the first student-athlete to drop 30 in a game since then-freshman Natallia Marchanka ('04) went for 33 versus Quinnipiac University, March 3, 2001. Her 14 free throws made rank second in the program annals for a single-game showing.
In the two programs' third overtime meeting ? the first-ever Fairleigh Dickinson claimed ? junior forward Christy Altamirano (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) (Bayonne, NJ) registered her sixth double-double of the year, going for 18 points and 10 boards. She also recorded a game-high three blocks on a day that featured nine lead changes. With less than one second remaining in regulation, Altamirano banked in a left-handed turnaround to force overtime.
Freshman guard Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) (Orange, NJ) scored 13 points, with five coming at the line, and distributed four assists. Senior center Shenika Chang (New York, NY/Park West) (New York, NY) posted six points and seven rips, including a hoop and two caroms in the extra session.
The Mount (9-13 overall, 4-8 NEC) led by as many as 12 and used a 16-1 spurt to start the second half to seemingly secure its third-consecutive league victory. But it was the Knights who earned a third-straight NEC win.
“I'm very proud of the team ? on three different occasions it looked like we were down and out,” Cinella said. “We just refused to give up today. Alyssa played an unbelievable, all-around game. Christy came up big when we needed her.”
Senior guard Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, MD) provided a career-high 23 points to pace the Mountaineers. Forward Mary Dunn (Whippany, NJ) tallied the second double-double of her sophomore campaign, finishing with 18 points and 15 boards.
Junior guard Hassannah Oliver (Hillsdale, NJ) attempted a career-high 20 field goal attempts and produced 13 points. Freshman guard Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia) quietly accrued a solid stat line of seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
The Mountaineers garnered 26 points off turnovers, while only coughing the ball up 10 times. Fairleigh Dickinson countered with 32 points in the paint and an 11-4 edge in bench scoring. In the second half, Mount St. Mary's only made 12-of-18 chances at the free throw line, while the home-standing squad amassed a 13-for-14 efficiency.
After scoring the afternoon's first field goal, The Mount hit the line to maintain command with six free throws. Amidst a 9-2 push to break a 4-4 standstill, Gauthier registered her 1,000th-career point at the charity stripe. Andresson nailed a three-ball from the left corner to punctuate the push and create a 15-6 contest with 13:37 remaining.
Altamirano canned a trey from straight-on, backed by a transitional deuce from Laury, as the duo sparked a string of seven-straight. The deficit ultimately stood at 19-15 at the 7:46 mark.
FDU locked up the Mountaineers' offense, not allowing a field goal for a span of 3:48. Mayrose took a feed from junior guard Jordan Sykes (Avalon, NJ/Holy Spirit) (Avalon, NJ) and drained her second three-pointer in as many possessions, en route to making it a two-point game.
The Knights collected their first advantage, 28-26, with 2:03 on the clock, as Sykes skipped a pass to Altamirano, who pulled the trigger from behind the arc. Mayrose sliced through the lane and rattled home an underhanded scoop shot in the period's closing seconds.
The count was in favor of Cinella's squad by the break, 31-28, after going for a 16-4 edge in the paint. Mayrose recorded 12 points and eight boards. The Mountaineers capitalized for a 13-2 stronghold in points off turnovers. Gauthier scored 12, while Dunn added seven points and six rebounds.
Mount St. Mary's dropped in 10-consecutive points to usher in the second half. By the time FDU halted a 9:30 field goal drought that coincided with the start of the half, the Knights were behind, 44-35. Senior guard Nasim Ahmadzadeh (Uppsala, Sweden/Lofstromsgymnasium) (Uppsala, Sweden) ended The Mount's momentum with a trifecta.
Mayrose finished off an old-fashioned three-point play and Laury pulled up on a fast break to fuel a 10-0 run that enabled the Knights to burst back into the ball game. Altamirano earned three the hard way at the 6:33 mark, as Fairleigh Dickinson jumped ahead for the first time since halftime, 49-48.
With 4:06 left, Mayrose hop-stepped to the rack along the baseline to regain a one-point advantage. Two possessions later, Gauthier cashed in with her foot on the three-point line, propelling the visitors to a 56-53 cushion. With less than a minute remaining, Mayrose was driven to the hardwood and sent to the line, where the sophomore knocked down a pair to knot things at 59.
The Mount went up to begin overtime, when Chang posted up her defender with 4:07 left in the session to put FDU up, 66-65. Altamirano extended the margin to three with a basket down low. Mayrose connected twice at the stripe to force a two-possession game. Gauthier answered with a three-ball with 49 seconds left, pushing the count to 70-69, in favor of the Knights.
Fairleigh Dickinson travels to Staten Island, NY, Monday, Feb. 9 to take on Wagner College at 7:00 p.m.
