The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team fell to the Hawks of Monmouth University in the final game of the Garden State Rivalry Series, 67-48, on Monday, February 14.  With the loss the Knights drop to 12-13 (5-9 NEC) on the season, while the Hawks improve to 16-8 (9-5 NEC).   

The Knights began the game with four-quick points from junior Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central), giving them a 6-2 lead just four minutes into play.  Monmouth tied the game at eight with 13:46 left to play in the half and stole the show from there.

The Hawks went on a 9-0 run to take the lead, 19-10, midway through the half.  They maintained a ten point lead until the final minutes of the half where they increased their lead to 24 points.  The Knights went into halftime trailing, 45-21. 

The Knights shot 37.0 percent from the floor during the first 20 minutes, while the Hawks made 47.4 percent of their shots.   Monmouth took 11 more shots from the field than FDU did, including nine more shots from beyond the arc. 

FDU went on a 6-0 run to start the second half but was met with retaliation from the Hawks.  MU went on its own 14-0 run to increase the lead to a game-high 32 points with 11:40 left to play. 

After trailing by 30 points for five minutes of competition, the Knights battled back to try to catch the Hawks.  With 7:26 left in the game, FDU began a run that would last through the final seconds of play. 

The Knights outscored Monmouth, 14-3, in the final eight minutes but were unable to catch them before time ran out.  The Hawks took the victory, 67-48.

Red-shirt freshman Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) led the Knights in both points and rebounds.  Pankey recorded 10 points, including 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and grabbed seven rebounds.  Wallace added eight points for FDU. 

The Knights ended the game with a 33.3 shooting percentage (20-for-60) from the field and 42 rebounds.  Although the Hawks outshot the Knights with 40.3 percent (25-for-62), they out-rebounded MU, 42-41. 

The Knights return to the Rothman Center on Saturday, February 19 for senior day against St. Francis PA.  The women tip-off at 4:30 pm.