Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. -
Kelsey Cruz (Chester, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) and
Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) combined for 43 of the Fairleigh Dickinson 75 points as the Knights made it back-to-back wins with a 75-58 win over LIU Brooklyn.
Fairleigh Dickinson (7-14, 4-4 NEC) outscored LIU Brooklyn (5-14, 3-5 NEC) 46-28 in the paint, 22-9 off turnovers and 36-0 in bench production-Cruz's 20 points came off the bench.
Head coach
Peter Cinella said, "The last four minutes of the second quarter our bench showed us the way-swing the ball and taking charges. Our zone was more effective in the second half. The balance of the whole roster was good tonight; Natalie [Zamora], Maddy [Comly], Jackie [Jackson] and Anastasia [Williams], it was a lot of different people came and gave us good contributions tonight."
The Knights erased an 11-point first quarter lead of the Blackbirds and eventually tied the game at the halftime break; a three-pointer from
Madelynn Comly (Littlestown, Pa./Delone Catholic) tied the score at 37. It is the first time the Knights won when trailing after the first quarter and it is the largest comeback win of the season.
"It is tough in the NEC to get back-to-back wins. It is the first time all year and hope we can keep it going. That is how you keep winning, we got to .500 but to get to a winning record you cannot be a team that splits."
Two Livermore free throws-she finished with a game-high 23-opened the scoring the third quarter for the Knights and gave them a 38-36 lead. Back-to-back layups from
Natalie Zamora (Albuquerque, N.M./St. Pius X) moved the lead to 42-36.
Cruz found Livermore underneath for a layup to increase the lead to 10, 57-47, with 26 seconds to play in the third. In the fourth, the Knights extended the lead to 15 off a bucket from Cruz and Livermore's fourth three-pointer of the season made it a 17-point, 75-58 led with less than a minute to play.
Outside of the Cruz and Livermore, five scored between four and eight points.
Jackie Jackson ( Gaithersburg, Md./ Gaithersburg) had eight and nine rebounds.
Amina Markovic (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) had six point and four rebounds,
Brianna Thomas (Baldwin, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan) had five and Williams had four points and seven rebounds.
Kiana Brown (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) had two points, six assists and five steals, as a team the Knights had 15 assists, third time in four games.
Defensively the Knights held the Blackbirds to 30-percent in the second half, 39-percent for the game, and forced 22 Long Island turnovers.
The Knights and the Blackbirds will meet again on Saturday in Brooklyn at 12:30 p.m.
