Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball stormed back from a 18-point halftime deficit and came within one but a last-second shot fell short and Robert Morris walked away with a tight 69-68 victory. With the win, the Colonials improve to 11-11 (9-2 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 6-15 (3-7 NEC) overall.
"I was so impressed with how our team came back and fought so hard to play one of our most dominant halves of the year and cut a 20-point lead down to one." Head Coach Pete Cinella said after the game, "Defensively
Amanda Andrades (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) was awesome,
Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) was dominant, and
Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) hit some very tough shots."
FDU kicked the game off with a 8-5 run on the back of Livermore's five quick points and a
Tiffany Grant (Odenton, Md./Arundel) three but the Colonials stormed back on the back of Anna Niki Stamolmaprou's scorching start from deep.
The Greek guard had 15 points on five long-range makes at the 10:50 mark and her team led 22-12.
Livermore scored her teams next eight points to get the deficit down to seven with 7:35 left but from that point on, the Colonials, thanks to Megan Smith's 10 points, finished out the half on a 19-8 run to take a 46-28 lead into the break.
Cruz drained a three from the top of the key to start the second period and the Knights went on a 25-12 to cut the deficit to five, 58-53, thanks to FDU's top three overall scorers each chipping in at least six points and Andrades scoring her first 10 points of the contest during that span.
Robert Morris, now in sole possession of second place in the NEC, fired off seven quick points to retake a 10-point lead at the 6:15 mark.
Grant hit another three and freshman forward
Amina Markovic (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) had a huge offensive rebound and putback off a Livermore miss to get it back to five, 65-60. The Colonials could only muster four more points over the final five minutes.
Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) scored five points and Ashley Ravelli, who has only missed one freebie all season, converted both of her free throws with 1:42 to play.
On the next possession, Livermore converted a tough contested lay-up, was fouled on the play, and she converted the three-point play to make it 69-68 with 1:27 to play.
The Knights had two critical turnovers but played tremendous defense to keep Robert Morris off the scoreboard and with eight seconds left, Andrades' attempted game winner was blocked by Megan Smith to seal her team's victory.
Livermore tallied a season-high 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting but had the second-lowest rebounding total of her season with three. Cruz chipped in 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting to snap a five-game streak in which she converted at least half of her double-digit shot attempts.
Andrades, who played stout defense on Stamolamprou in the second half to keep her to just two points, finished with 10 points, a game-high five rebounds, six assists, a block, and a steal while playing all 40 minutes.
The Knights outshot the visitors, 51% to 46.4% but lost the battle of the boards, 32 to 23.
Stamolamprou and Smith each finished with 19 points apiece and nine Robert Morris players scored in the contest.
FDU hosts Saint Francis University on Monday evening, Feb. 9, with a 7 p.m. tip. NEC Front Row will have live video coverage.
