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HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team will look to inch one step closer to a Northeast Conference Tournament appearance when it looks for the season sweep against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at Stratis Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. The Knights defeated the Mount earlier this season in overtime, 69-60, at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Md.
 
Saturday's contest will be part of FDU's 2013 Winter Homecoming, the Knights' annual Play 4Kay Game, which supports breast cancer awareness and research, and Senior Day, as Torrie Childs (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central) will be honored before the game. The men's game between the two sides will be played at 4:30 p.m.

FDU (11-16, 6-10 NEC) stayed in the postseason hunt despite falling in a track meet at Saint Francis University, 100-89, last Monday. The Knights are currently in a three-way tie for eighth place with Bryant and Robert Morris, as the top eight teams make the tournament.

Six spots have been clinched, and FDU needs to win its final two games of the season and hope Bryant loses one of its final two contests. The Knights hold the tiebreaker over Robert Morris, but Bryant holds it over FDU. Central Connecticut State (8-8 NEC), who is in a tie for sixth place, has not clinched a spot, and the Knights hold the tiebreaker over the Blue Devils.

In the game last Monday at Saint Francis, the biggest difference was three-point shooting, as SFU outscored FDU, 51-12, from behind the arc. The Red Flash knocked down 17-of-33 three's, including 10-of-21 in the first half, while the Knights made only 4-of-17 in the game. SFU also forced FDU into 23 turnovers, which led to 28 points. The Knights only scored 12 points off 13 Red Flash miscues.
 
FDU did dominate the paint, outscoring SFU, 48-18, while killing the Red Flash on the glass, 56-33, establishing a new season best on the glass. The Knights also outscored SFU, 33-7, on second-chance points, as they collected a season-high 26 offensive rebounds.
 
Sophomore Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) led all scorers with a career-high 36 points, as she established new career bests in field goals (15) and field goal attempts (26). Livermore also pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds, including a career-high 11 offensive boards, while recording a career-best four steals.
 
Redshirt junior Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) came off the bench to add 18 points, and sophomore Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Junior Desiree Crawford (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic) added 10 rebounds for FDU.
 
The Knights scored the first six points of the game, as they jumped out to a 16-7 lead nearly five minutes into the contest, before the Red Flash answered with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 20 with 10:24 to go before halftime.
 
Andrades connected on a deep three from the left wing to regain the lead for FDU, but she picked up her second foul 20 seconds later, forcing her to go to the bench with 9:47 remaining in the first half.
 
SFU promptly outscored the Knights, 9-2, and eventually extended its lead out to five at 32-27 with 6:02 to go before halftime.
 
FDU scored five straight points, as freshman Geraldine Cherubin (Hamden, Conn./Hamden)'s put back layup tied the game at 32. She had a chance for a three-point play but missed the free throw.
 
The Red Flash then caught fire from three, knocking down four from distance over the final 4:17 of the half, and took a 10-point lead before a step-back three-pointer from Pankey right before halftime cut the deficit to 48-41 at the break.
 
Both sides pressed each other throughout the first 20 minutes, which led to a lot of easy buckets. FDU shot 45.7 percent (16-of-35) but only made 2-of-8 from distance. SFU made 48.6 percent (17-of-35) of its field goals and scored 30 points on 10 made three's.
 
Freshman Brianna Thomas (Baldwin, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan) scored a layup to start the second half for the Knights to cut the lead to five, but it was the closest they would come the rest of the game, as the Red Flash used a 12-4 spurt to extend the lead to 60-47 with 16:56 remaining in the game.
 
SFU extend its lead to 74-59, but FDU scored eight unanswered points, as a three-pointer from Pankey cut the lead to 74-67 with 8:40 to go, forcing the Red Flash to call a 30-second timeout.
 
Following the timeout, a pivotal play took place, as the Knights appeared to have created a turnover near midcourt, but SFU came up with the loose ball for an easy layup to end the FDU run, while talking away all the momentum.
 
The Red Flash took control from that point and eventually took their largest lead of the game, 92-76, with 1:39 remaining in the contest.
 
The Knights then fought back, and Livermore's 22nd point of the second half cut the deficit to 96-89 with 39 ticks left on the clock.
 
However, SFU would score the final four points to clinch the 100-89 victory.
 
For the game, FDU shot 44.6 percent (33-of-74) and set new season highs in points, field goals made and field goals attempted. The Knights also shot 67.9 percent (19-of-28) from the free throw line.
 
The Red Flash converted 50 percent of its field goals (31-of-62), including 51.5 percent of its three-pointers, while making only 21-of-35 free throws (60 percent). They also assisted on 28 of their 31 field goals.

Livermore, who was awarded the Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week for the third time this season, leads FDU in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (11.6 rpg), blocks (40) and field goal percentage (47.1 percent), while collecting 21 double-doubles on the season, which ranks fifth in the nation. Pankey adds 14.1 points per game, while Andrades leads the team with 116 assists and 40 steals.

The Mountaineers (13-14, 9-7 NEC), who were picked to finish seventh in the 12-team Northeast Conference, have clinched a spot in the NEC Tournament and are all alone in fifth place. They have a chance to finish as high as third or finish as low as seventh in the standings.
 
The Mount is winners of four of their last five, including a 51-39 victory at home last Monday against LIU Brooklyn.
 
The Mount is led by redshirt junior guard Sydney Henderson, who is averaging a team-best 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Redshirt sophomore guard Jacqueline Brewer is averaging 9.9 points per game and is shooting 43.6 percent (45-of-109) from three-point range.

The Knights and the Mountaineers will be meeting for the 46th time in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1989-90 season. The Mount holds a 24-21 advantage, but FDU won the first meeting between the two sides this season in overtime, 69-60, in Emmitsburg, Md. At the time, the Knights improved to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in NEC play, while the Mount fell to 1-1 in the league.
 
On Jan. 7, FDU outscored MSM, 11-2, in the overtime period. With the score tied at 60, Andrades, who tied a career high in assists with six, found Childs for a layup, with the shot clock at zero, to start a 9-0 game-ending run as FDU made 7-of-8 free throws in the extra time.
 
Livermore had a monster game, scoring a career-high 33 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor to tie a career best in made field goals, while knocking down a career-high 12 free throws on a career-best 14 attempts. She also grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season and recorded a season-high two blocked shots.
 
Pankey added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, and sophomore Stephanie Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) chipped in eight points, knocking down 2-of-4 from three-point range.
 
Despite shooting 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the field, FDU scored a season-high 69 points. The Knights also had their best game at the free throw line this season as they knocked down 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) from the charity stripe, while making 5-of-12 from behind the arc.
 
The defense held a hot-shooting MSM team to only 29.1 percent (16-of-55) shooting from the floor, including 5-of-19 from three. The Mount stayed in the game by knocking down 23-of-27 (85.2 percent) from the free throw line.
 
Both sides combined to shoot 85 percent (45-of-53) from the free throw line as 48 personal fouls were called.
 
FDU won the rebounding battle, 47-40, which included 21 offensive rebounds. The Knights, who turned the ball over 19 times, forced 20 turnovers.
 
After three ties and four lead changes over the first 13:33 of the first half, Isaacs' driving layup from the top of the key triggered a 9-2 run, which was capped by a pair of free throws from Pankey, to give FDU a 26-19 lead with 2:53 left before halftime.
 
The Mount answered with an 8-2 spurt to cut the Knights' lead to one before sophomore Miah Register (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic)'s baseline runner right before the end of the half gave FDU a 30-27 halftime advantage.
 
Livermore had 14 points and nine rebounds over the first 20 minutes and started the second half with the first of three old-fashion three-point plays she would convert, extending the Knights' lead to 33-27.
 
The Mount answered with a 10-4 run to tie the game at 37 with 13:32 remaining in regulation.
 
With the scored tied at 39, a step-back three from Isaacs, with the shot clock winding down, and Livermore's second three-point play, extended the lead back to six at 45-39 before MSM scored six of the next nine points to knot the contest at 48 with 5:47 left in the second half.
 
Back-to-back three's by Isaacs and Pankey put FDU up 56-51, but the Mount came back to tie the game at 56 with 1:05 to go in regulation.
 
Livermore calmly sank a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left on the clock to give the Knights a 58-56 lead before the home team tied the game at 58 with 20 seconds to go.
 
FDU had two opportunities to win the game in regulation but missed both shots, sending the game into overtime, where it took control for the 69-60 victory.
 
Brewer led MSM with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Kayla Grossett added 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals. The Knights' defense held the Mount's top two scorers, Henderson and Jessie Kaufman, to only eight points on 3-of-19 shooting from the floor.

Following Saturday's contest, FDU will conclude the regular season against last-place Wagner at Stratis Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 4. The Knights won at Wagner earlier this season, 68-59, on Jan. 5, as they opened up NEC play.