The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team came from behind to defeat the Peahens of St. Peter's College, 69-63, Sunday at Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, NJ. With the win, the Knights improve to 6-4 (1-0 NEC), while the Peahens fall to 0-8. The Knights' 6-4 record is the program's best start since 1991-92; the three-game win streak is the first since 2007.
FDU jumped out to an early lead with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. St. Peter's consistently challenged the Knights, tying the score on four occasions between the start and the five-minute mark. With three minutes remaining in the first half, the Peahens went on a quick 16-2 run to take the lead. FDU went into half time trailing, 38-28.
In the first half, the Knights shot 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from the floor while the Peahens made 14-of-31 shots for a 43.8 field-goal percentage. The Peahens out-rebounded the Knights, 19-16 and scored 20 points off of turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Although the Knights challenged on several occasions, the Peahens maintained their lead through the first 14 minutes of the second half. A big-three pointer from Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) tied the game at 56 with 6:19 remaining. Two points from senior Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) gave the Knights their first lead of the second half.
SPC battled to retake the lead with less than three-minutes remaining on a three-point play. Junior Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) responded with a bucket to give the Knights a 64-63 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Laury added another two points with 40.4 seconds remaining to bring the Knights' lead to 66-63. FDU went three-for-four from the charity stripe to end the game with an ultimate advantage of 69-63.
The Knights were led by four players with double-digit points. Laury led FDU with 19 points, Pankey recoded 18, while Mayrose and Alannah Driscoll-Sbar (Northampton, MA/Northampton) each added 10. Junior Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) led the team with 7 rebounds, Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) had six.
The Knights shot 44.4 percent from the field, and grabbed a total of 25 rebounds. In the second half, the Knights only allowed two points on turnovers.
"It was a great come-back win," said Head Coach Pete Cinella. "We were down ten points at the half but kept playing hard with help from Pankey's big shot to take the lead and Laury's clutch performance."
The Knights are back in action on December 22 when they host Central Connecticut State University at the Rothman Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm.
