The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team defeated Columbia University, 61-50, on Tuesday night at Leviun Gymnasium in Manhattan, NY. The victory is the first for the Knights this season bringing their record to 1-1. With the loss the Lions fall to 0-2. FDU was lead by junior Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) who scored an unprecedented 27 points.
Red Shirt freshman Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) started the charge for the Knights with five points in the first two minutes of play. After a three from Laury, Columbia's leading scorer, Kathleen Barry (18 points, 6 rebounds), evened the score at eight. FDU and Columbia battled back and forth with four changes in lead between the 16 minute mark and the 11 minute mark.
Sparked by a free throw from junior Amy Longo (Pittsburgh, PA/North Catholic) and a three pointer at the shot clock buzzer from senior Jordan Sykes (Avalon, NJ/Holy Spirit), the Knights took control of the game with a 13 point run with less than nine minutes to go in the half.
The Lions finally put points on the board with two free throws from Brianna Orlich (11 points, 6-6 FT) but by halftime the Knights had taken a 37-21 lead.
The second half began with two quick points from Laury. After two consecutive three pointers and a field goal from senior Kayla Killian (Cliffwood Beach, NJ/St. John Vianney), the Knights were up 48-28 with 15 minutes to go.
The Lions used a full-court press to slow down the Knights. With 8:30 left the in half Columbia had brought the score to 51-34. The home team chipped away at the deficit taking the score to 46-55 with 2:25 to go.
At 2:25 junior Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic), who had six total points and five rebounds, sank two free throws to bring the lead back to double digits for the Knights. With both teams in double bonus, the last two minutes became a battle from the charity stripe.
The Knights went 6 for 9 from the line in the second half, adding late game points to help insure the win.
While scoring 20 points in the first half and going 8 for 9 from the line, Laury finished the game with 27 points and five rebounds. Killian added eight for the Knights, while Pankey recorded 11. Sykes finished with five points and freshmen Desiree Crawford (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic) scored the first two points of her FDU career and tallied 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The Knights recorded a 54.1 field goal percentage; the Lions shot only 23.3%. While the Lions went 5-27 from beyond the arc, the real score difference came with the Knight's 100% (6-6) three point shooting. The Knights also had 14 points off the bench.
"This is a great win against a great team," said Head Coach Pete Cinella. "Columbia won 18 games last year and is very good at home. I'm very proud of how our team stepped up with excellent internal defense and big shots from our guards."
"If we can out-rebound teams like we did tonight [FDU outrebounded Columbia 41-36]," Cinella added, "we have a better chance to get wins on the road."
The Knights are back in action Saturday, November 20th in their home opener against Army. Tipoff is set for 4:00 pm.
