The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team ended its season-high five game losing streak, defeating St. Francis (PA) in a closely contested NEC battle, 53-50, in Stratis Arena at the Rothman Center on Saturday evening. The Knights improve to 6-13 (2-6 NEC) on the season, while the Red Flash fall to 7-11 (4-4 NEC) overall. The victory avenged a 65-61 loss suffered last Saturday versus the Red Flash.
Sophomore Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) led the Knights in scoring with 20 points, including 15 in the second half. She also pulled down seven rebounds. Junior Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) added 13 points and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to give FDU its first double-double of the season. Red-shirt sophomore Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) chipped in 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) came off the bench and ripped down nine rebounds.
The Knights took a five point lead in the game's first seven minutes as Saunders knocked down a jumper to put the Knights up 9-4.
Britney Hodges three-pointer gave St. Francis (PA) its first lead of the game, 15-13, with 6:44 to go in the first half.
With the game tied at 17, the Red Flash outscored the Knights, 7-2, over the final 3:13 of the first half to take a 24-19 lead into halftime.
Laury and Mayrose each scored five points in the first half to lead the Knights. Saunders grabbed five rebounds to lead the Knights on the glass.
Mayrose's layup, with 17:13 to go in the game, tied the game at 25. After the Red Flash went back up three, Laury converted an old-fashion three-point play to tie the game at 30 with 14:06 to go.
Another Mayrose layup put the Knights ahead for good, 34-33, with 10:01 left in the game.
The Knights lead would reach as high as eight, 46-38, when Mayrose converted another tough layup with 5:09 to go in the game.
With the Knights up 48-44, with 2:22 to go, Quinessa Johnson had a chance to cut the deficit down to two. She made one of two free throws to cut the Knights lead to 48-45.
Jenna Strich's tough jumper from the left baseline pretty much sealed the victory for the Knights as the basket gave FDU a 51-45 advantage with 1:11 to go in the game.
After Brittany Lilley made one of two free throws to put the Red Flash down 51-48 with 8 seconds left, Laury knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 53-48 lead.
Lilley hit a jumper at the buzzer to make the final score, 53-50, in favor of the Knights.
"We really battled hard," said head coach Pete Cinella. "The team stepped up and defended and rebounded extremely well."
"We had great intensity in the second half. The girls wanted it and showed their desire. This was a big win for us versus a very good team."
The story of the game was at the free throw line. The Knights converted on 80 percent (12-for-15) of their attempts. However, the Red Flash went to the line 36 times and only converted 17 of their attempts (47.2 percent). Both teams also struggled from the floor for the night as each team shot below 30 percent. The Knights shot 29.2 percent (19-for-65), while the Red Flash shot 27.6 percent (16-for-58).
FDU won the rebounding battle for only the third time this season, out-rebounding St. Francis (PA), 52-51. The Red Flash won the turnover battle as they forced 16 turnovers and only turned the ball over 11 times.
Allison Smith led the Red Flash with nine points. Samantha Leach, Hodges, and Allison Daly each added eight points. Smith also pulled down eight rebounds to lead St. Francis (PA).
The Knights return to action this Thursday, Jan. 28, as they hit the road for the first of two NEC road games. The Knights will travel to Smithfield, RI to take on the Bulldogs of Bryant. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 p.m.
