The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team dropped their final regular season contest, 67-70, to LIU Brooklyn on Monday, Feb. 27 at Stratis Arena.  With the loss, the Knights fall to 13-17 on the season with an 8-10 mark in Northeast Conference play.  The Blackbirds improve to 21-9, with a 10-8 conference record. 

After trailing by 12 points midway through the first half, the Knights battled back to tie the game at 28 at halftime.  Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) led the Knights to an eight-point lead in the second half with 11 points including three three-pointers.

The Blackbirds went 19-for-22 from the free-throw line in the second half, fighting back enough to tie the game at 67 with 49 seconds left on the clock.  With 33 seconds to play, the Knights missed a three-point attempt, giving the Blackbirds possession.  A layup by LIU gave them a 67-69 lead with 25 seconds left.  LIU took their final advantage, 67-70, with a free-throw in the final seconds of the game.

LIU took a 12-point lead in the first six minutes of play on a 14-2 run.  The Knights used two three-pointers by Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) and a set of layups from Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) and Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) to tie the game at 19 with eight minutes left in the half. 

The teams traded baskets in the final minutes if the half and went into the break tied at 28.  The Knights shot 41.4 percent in the first 20 minutes, while holding LIU to a 35.7 shooting percentage.

The Knights and Blackbirds traded baskets through the first 11 minutes of the second half, tying the game on five separate occasions.  Andrades started a surge for the Knights with 8:46 left to play.  She hit her first three-pointer to put FDU ahead, 50-49.  A layup from Laury and a second three-pointer by Andrades gave the Knights a six-point lead, 55-49 with 7:53 to play. Esther Wallace (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) increased the Knights' lead to eight points on a jump shot with seven minutes on the clock.

A layup from Livermore with 2:30 to play helped the Knights maintain a seven-point lead, but two made free throws and a layup cut the deficit to just three points.  Five-unanswered points by LIU tied the game at 67 with 49 seconds to play.

With 33 seconds to play, the Knights missed a three-point attempt, giving the Blackbirds possession.  A layup by LIU gave them a 67-69 lead with 25 seconds left.  LIU took their final advantage, 67-70, with a free-throw in the final seconds of the game.

Laury led the Knights with 15 points, while Andrades added 11 points and six assists.  Pankey and Livermore each scored ten. Wallace led the Knights on the boards with eight. 

The Knights were out-rebounded, 29-38, but out-shot the Blackbirds, 46.7 to 38.9 percent from the field.  LIU went 26-for-32 from the charity stripe, while FDU went just 4-for-7. 

FDU will compete as the eighth seed in the Northeast Conference tournament.  The first round of play will take place on Saturday, March 3.  More details can be found at FDUKnights.com later this week.