Box Score
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NEW YORK – In the first stop of a three-game road swing, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team let a second-half lead slip away as the Knights fell 54-47 to Columbia at Levien Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon to drop to 0-4 on the season, while the Lions improve to 1-3.
 
With 15:47 left in the game and FDU holding on to a 29-21 lead, Columbia roared back to even the score at 40-40 with just under six minutes to go. Two minutes later the Lions connected on a 3-pointer followed by a jumper and a layup for a seven-point edge at 49-42. FDU would cut the lead to four at 51-47 but could not get any closer down the stretch.
 
“I thought we had control of the game, grabbing that eight-point lead,” Head Coach Peter Cinella said. “Columbia beat us on the boards the last 10 minutes, and we had some bad turnovers.”
 
The Knights forced a season-high 23 turnovers but had 22 turnovers of their own, which led to 14 Columbia points.
 
FDU shot 29 percent from the field on 18-of-62 shooting to go with 3-of-19 shooting on threes (15.8 percent). Sophomore Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) was the Knights' most efficient offensive option with 16 points on 6-of-9 on field goals and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Fellow sophomore Stephanie Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) also connected on three 3-pointers to score 11 points, and redshirt junior Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) and sophomore Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) added nine and seven points, respectively.
 
Despite going a collective 3-of-16 from long range, Columbia put together a 37.7 percent shooting effort on 23-of-61 on the day. CU's Bailey Ott was a force with a game-high 20 points along with eight rebounds. Sara Mead was Columbia's other player in double figures with 10 points off the bench.
 
For the fourth time this season, the Knights were outrebounded as the Lions corralled 45 rebounds to FDU's 42. The Knights did, however, grab more offensive rebounds than their opponent (17-15) for the first time this year.
 
In the first half, FDU found itself clinging to a 14-12 lead on a Livermore layup with 10:37 to go before halftime. Livermore scored 10 points and had seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
 
Later in the half with the score tied at 17-17, a layup by Columbia put the home side up two with 2:21 left before halftime. Despite the Knights shooting 0-for-8 from distance in the first half, they went into the locker room down just two at 21-19.
 
FDU stormed out of the gates in the second half, but could not make its eight-point lead hold up. Columbia outscored FDU 33-28 in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Knights won the points in the paint battle with 26 points to Columbia's 22, but the Lions' bench production of 20 points proved to be too much for FDU.
 
The Knights will have one week to get ready for another road game at Manhattan in Riverdale, N.Y. on Sunday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m.