The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fell to top-seeded Saint Francis PA on Saturday, 72-59, at DeGol Arena in Loretto, PA. With the loss, the Knights conclude their season with a 14-16 (7-12 NEC) record, while the Red Flash pick up their 20th win of the season and move on to a Northeast Conference semi-final game.
St. Francis took a five-point lead just three minutes into the game with six points and one assist from junior Brittany Lilley. Lilley led the Red Flash to a 10-point lead five minutes into the game with nine points of her own.
"St. Francis and Lilley came out very aggressive," said Head Coach Pete Cinella. "The 16-6 lead put us on our heels and it was hard to respond to that. From that point on it was a pretty even game but we could never cut the lead down."
The Red Flash were able to hold FDU to just 11 points midway through the half with a strong 1-3-1 zone. "I give their coaching staff a lot of credit," said Cinella. "The 1-3-1 was very good against us."
The Knights cut the deficit to seven points with just under five minutes left in the first half. After a series of offensive rebounds, red-shirt freshman Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) nailed a layup to bring the score to 19-26.
After going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final minutes, SFPA extended its lead to 33-22 at the break.
In the first 20 minutes the Knights made only eight of 33 shots from the floor (24.2 percent), including 3-for-17 from three-point range. St. Francis made 13-of-26 for 50.0 percent.
Junior Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) made a layup just 1:30 into the second half to cut the SFPA lead to seven points. SFPA responded with a nine-point run, extending their lead to 15 points five minutes into the second half.
The Red Flash continued to run the 1-3-1 zone, holding the Knights to a 37.5 shooting percentage in the second half. SFPA maintained a double-digit lead despite strong performances from several FDU team members.
With 6:41 remaining in the game, SFPA took its largest lead of the game, 57-39.
The Knights spent the last five minutes chipping away at the deficit but were unable to cut the lead to less than 11 points.
The Red Flash took the win, 72-59.
Pankey led the Knights' scoring effort with 16 points on a career-high six field-goals on 16 attempts. Junior Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) added 14 for FDU while Wallace had a stand-out game. Wallace recorded 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Lilley led the Red Flash with 24 points. NEC Player of the Year, Samantha Leach added 16.
