Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team could not overcome a torrid shooting pace by NJIT in the first half Thursday night, as the Knights fell to the Highlanders, 84-71, at the Fleisher Athletic Center. With the victory, NJIT improves to 3-10 on the season, while FDU falls to 1-8 overall.

The Highlanders shot a blistering 63.6 percent (21-of-33) from the field over the first 20 minutes, including a 60-percent clip (9-of-15) from three-point range, as they broke away from a 5-5 tie with 11 unanswered points and 28 of the next 33 to take a 33-10 lead with 6:50 to go in the opening half, before eventually leading at the break, 53-31.

Sophomore Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) paced the Knights with a career-high 25 points, including 17 after halftime, knocked down 4-of-6 from three-point range and grabbed five rebounds. Junior Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) also established a new career high in scoring with 18 points (14 first half), swished 4-of-6 from distance, dished out a team-best four assists and recorded a career-high six steals in 40 minutes of action.

"I am proud of the team with how they battled back," Head Coach Peter Cinella said. "We had a big first-half deficit, but played very well in the second half and outscored them. We particularly did a great job in the second half shooting the basketball from the field and shooting a season high from three. Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) made some big shots for us to get us back in the ballgame, Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) ran the show well, and we got the ball in to Anastasia Williams (Central Islip, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan), who did some good things on the block with eight points and seven rebounds."

The Knights would outscore the Highlanders by nine, 40-31, in the second half and would cut the deficit to 75-62 on a Cruz three-pointer at the 3:16 mark. But FDU, who was playing with a short bench on the night, was unable to get any closer.

FDU made a season-high 10 three's (on 25 attempts) and shot 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the field. NJIT cooled off in the second half but connected on 52.3 percent (34-of-65) of its chances for the game while missing all seven of its shots from behind-the-arc in the second half.

The Knights will have nine days off before returning to action at the FIU Sun and Fun Classic Dec. 28-29 in Miami, Fla. FDU will face Florida International at 6 p.m. on that Saturday and either Wake Forest or Florida A&M the following day.