Box Score LORETTO, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team turned it up late and downed Saint Francis University, 78-65, for the team's third Northeast Conference victory of the season. With the win, the Knights improve to 6-13 (3-5 NEC), while the Red Flash fall to 3-17 (2-7 NEC) overall.
"I'm very proud of the team to get a road win in a very difficult place to win. They came back and took the lead but we showed great toughness and resiliency and we played so well the last 10 minutes of the game." Head Coach Pete Cinella said after the game, "
Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) was like a warrior down the stretch and both
Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) and
Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) were very efficient on offense. Nice solid contributions were made by
Valerie Oyakhilome (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) and another excellent all-around game from
Tiffany Grant (Odenton, Md./Arundel)."
The Knights jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the game's opening five minutes thanks to Cruz's seven quick points. The Red Flash answered with a 8-2 run of their own coming out of the game's first media timeout.
Coming out of the second break, the Knights buckled down on defense and grinded out a 14-6 run with six different scorers and capped by Oyakhilome's and-one play. FDU's nine-point lead was its largest of the first half.
Starting with Alexa Hayward converting two from the charity stripe, the team's first free throw attempts of the contest, the Red Flash enjoyed a 12-4 run to knock the lead back to down to one with 2:35 to play but FDU pushed its lead back up to five, 37-32, after a Cruz midrange jumper.
Saint Francis' Hope Phillips' layup attempt at the buzzer fell in and the hosts trailed by just three heading into halftime, 37-34.
Freshman guard Maya Wynn drained a three to kick off the second period and Aisha Brock added a second sandwiched around a Livermore lay-in to take the team's first lead since the game's first basket.
The hosts continued to apply pressure and led by as much as five during a 9-2 run but the Knights chipped away and answered with a brief 6-0 run over a minute and a half to retake the lead, 47-46, at the 12:37 mark.
A Corissa Archer jumper pulled the score back in Saint Francis' favor but it would be the last time. Andrades converted a lay-up and, although the game would even up twice more, the Knights finished out the game on a 22-9 run over the final nine minutes led by the senior point guard's clutch play from the field and at the line.
Livermore and Cruz each shared a game-high 23 points on a combined 18-for-34 shooting (52.9%) with the former notching 12 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season.
Cruz shot over 50% for the third game in a row and is now shooting over 44% for the season from the floor.
The Knights corralled 46 rebounds as a team compared to the Red Flash's 33 and shot 49% from inside the perimeter.
Brock paced Saint Francis U with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and six assists, while Wynn added 13 and reigning NEC Player of the Week Archer totaled 10.
Alexa Hayward, the conference's second-leading scorer, was held under 10 points for the first time all season and finished with six points while shooting 2-of-16 from the field.
FDU is back on the court on Monday morning when it takes on reigning NEC champs Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa. Tipoff is slated for 10 a.m. NEC Front Row will have live video coverage.
