Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. - Despite holding a 43-29 advantage over UMass-Lowell at the half, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team could not answer a late surge from the visiting River Hawks. The River Hawks (3-7) used a 26-point fourth quarter to pull away from the Knights (2-7) to claim the 78-67 win.
Fairleigh Dickinson never trailed in the opening two quarters. The Knights grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and converted nine UMass Lowell turnovers into 18 points to build the 14-point halftime advantage.
"UMass Lowell never stopped when they were down big", said head coach
Peter Cinella. "We played one of our better halves of the season [in the first half] where we did a good job of running the offense and hitting the glass. In the second half that definitely fell out of our favor, getting out rebounded badly and not defending the way we want."
The Knights led after three, 55-52, though the River Hawks managed to outscore them 22-10 in the third quarter. UMass-Lowell then jumped out to a fast start in the fourth quarter. The River Hawks scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to eventually take a 63-55 lead on a Kayla Gibbs layup with 5:23 to play. The comeback erased what was a 16-point lead in the quarter for Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights would get within five at 70-65 off two free throws from
Jackie Jackson ( Gaithersburg, Md./ Gaithersburg), but that would as close as Fairleigh Dickinson would get.
Redshirt-senior
Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) snagged another double-double
--the 45th of her career--bytallying a game-high 19 points and 15 boards. Senior
Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) registered 17 points and dished out three assists.
Kiana Brown (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) had 11 points and four assists. The 11 points is a new season-high and it is the fourth straight game with four assists.
Four different River Hawks were in double figures. Lindsey Doucette and Gibbs had 16 to lead the way. Asia Mitchell-Owens and Melissa Farse each had 15. Doucette added 15 rebounds on the night.
The Knights have a quick turnaround as they host Monmouth on Sunday, December 20 at 7 p.m. at the Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center.
