The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team earned its first Northeast Conference win of the season with a 63-58 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, Jan. 7 in Hackensack, NJ.  With the win the Knights improve to 6-9 on the season with a 1-2 mark in NEC play.  The Mountaineers fall to 6-8 on the year after picking up their first NEC loss. 

The second half saw neither team ever go ahead by more than six points.  The Knights went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to secure the win. 

The Mount amassed a seven-point lead four minutes into the game.  FDU continued to add to their point total but could not cut the Mount's lead.  With four minutes remaining before the break The Mount compiled an eight-point lead, their largest of the game.

The Knights then scored nine-unanswered points to take a one-point lead with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

With nine first-half points from freshman Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area), the Knights led, 29-28 at the break.

In the first 20 minutes FDU out-rebounded The Mount, 26-9.

Senior Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) started the second half with eight points in three minutes to increase FDU's lead to six points.

After a three minute scoring draught for both teams, the Mount reclaimed the lead on a layup from Sydney Henderson.  Laury responded with points of her own but the Mount did not back down.

With just under seven minutes to play, Livermore sank two free throws to give the Knights a 47-44 lead.  Livermore added two more points a minute later to help the Knights maintain the advantage.

A foul on a made three-pointer by The Mount enabled them to take a one-point lead with 3:33 on the clock.  Sophomore Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) responded with the Knights' only three pointer of the night in perfect timing to reclaim the lead. 

In the final three minutes of play, the Mount made just one of seven field-goal attempts, while the Knights added 11 points to their total to take the win.

Laury led all scorers with 21 points, a season-high for Northeast Conference play, while Livermore and Pankey added 15 and 11, respectively.  Livermore and Pankey each missed a double-double by one rebound as both led the team with nine boards. 

The Knights out-rebounded the Mount, 48-25 through the entire game and out-shot them, 39.3% to 35.6%.  FDU shot 44% in the second half to help earn the win.  The team went 18-for-22 from the charity stripe. 

“It was a very good overall team effort against a very good team,” said Head Coach Pete Cinella.  “We had to play a tough 40 minutes today to get the close win but we did a great job on the boards to get the win.”

The Knights take just one day off before hosting Wagner on Monday, Jan. 9 at Stratis Arena.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.