Box Score

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to St. Francis Brooklyn, 57-55, Monday night at Stratis Arena in Northeast Conference action. With the victory, the Terriers improve to 11-2 (2-0 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-12 (0-2 NEC) overall.

FDU held a 55-46 lead after a pair of free throws from sophomore Brianna Thomas (Baldwin, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan) with 3:28 remaining but would not score the rest of the way.

The turning point in the contest came with FDU leading 55-51, as junior Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) was whistled for an offensive foul when the Knights were trying to inbound the basketball after the Terriers knocked down a pair of free throws.

St. Francis would score on its next possession and then forced FDU into another turnover. However, the Knights were able to force a stop before committing one more turnover with 1:14 left.

The Terriers took advantage and knotted the game at 55-55, but for the third time in less than three minutes, FDU would turn the ball over, this time with 40 ticks remaining.

With the shot clock winding down, the Knights initially stopped St. Francis with a missed layup, but the Terriers' Leah Fechko grabbed the rebound and laid the ball back through the hoop with just under 11 seconds to go, thus giving the visitors a two-point lead, their first since the 7:00 mark of the first half.

FDU called its final timeout to draw up one last play. Andrades drove to the hoop and drew contact, but there was no whistle blown, as her shot missed at the buzzer.

The Knights outplayed St. Francis the entire game and forced the NEC's top three-point shooting team to only 17.4 percent (4-of-23) from behind-the-arc and 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the field.

FDU, who shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) for the game, turned the ball over 14 times (compared the Terriers' five), which led to St. Francis outscoring the Knights, 17-4, on points off turnovers.

"I am proud of the team and this was our best overall effort for the entire season," Head Coach Peter Cinella said. "The result at the end was tough to take considering we had so many leads late. You have to give St. Francis Brooklyn credit; they stepped up and made big plays. But overall, our team did a great job, played extremely hard for 40 minutes and did a lot of things that can lead to winning basketball games."

FDU trailed by as many as seven on two different occasions in the first half, with the last coming at 19-12 at the 8:58 mark. But the Knights were hot from the field over the opening 20 minutes (52.2 percent, 12-of-23) and used a 12-2 run, capped by senior Desiree Crawford (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic)'s layup, to take a 24-21 lead with 6:12 remaining before halftime.

The Terriers would cut the lead to one twice, but FDU scored the final six points of the opening 20 minutes to close out the half on a 22-6 run to head into the locker room leading 34-25.

St. Francis scored the first nine points after the break, as its 11-2 run cut the Knights' lead to 36-34 with 14:01 to go.

FDU would absorb the Terriers' punch and respond with seven unanswered, with sophomore Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird)'s jumper putting the Knights back up nine at 43-34, before St. Francis countered with six straight to cut its deficit to 43-40 with 10:03 left.

But the home team bounced right back with eight in a row, which included a pair of trey balls from Thomas, as the second one gave FDU its largest lead of the game, 51-40, with 6:46 remaining.

Eventually, St. Francis would gain control and outscored the Knights, 17-4, over the final 6:30 to escape with the victory.

Thomas paced the Knights with 18 points, while Crawford added a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Cruz chipped in nine points and tied a career best in rebounds with seven. Andrades dished out a career-high nine assists.

Jessica Kaufman led the Terriers with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Fechko added 11 points and eight rebounds.

FDU will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11 when it travels to Loretto, Pa. to take on Saint Francis University in NEC play, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.