JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fell on the road to Saint Peter's, 65-43, on Tuesday night.

Saint Peter's (2-8) held Fairleigh Dickinson (2-8) scoreless for 5:35 at the end of the third quarter and to start the fourth to pull out a 10-point lead, 50-40.

Courtney Blankenship led the Knights with nine points, all came in first half. Nine of the 11 Knights who played scored. Peniel M'Bikata had seven points and Amina Markovic and Kiana Brown had six points. 

The Peacocks opened the third quarter on a 6-0 to turn a two-point deficit into a 34-30 lead with 6:45 to go in the quarter. The lead grew to 10, 42-32, at the 4:07 mark after another 6-0 run.

Brianna Thomas hit a three-pointer with 1:29 to play in the third to make it a six-point game, 46-40. That would be as close as the Knights would get for the remainder of the game.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights got to within single digits at 52-43 with 5:54 to play on a Brown three-pointer from the right wing. Saint Peter's got the lead back to 10 on a free throw from Sajanna Bethea at the 4:14 mark and did not let the score get closer than that.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson led after the first and second quarters after shooting 50-percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Knights got the lead at the halftime intermission when Blankenship beat the horn with a three-pointer.

"I really liked our tempo in the first half. We shot 50-percent from the field and 40 from three [point range]," said head coach Peter Cinella postgame. "We have to learn how to attack and play for 40 minutes. In almost every game during this tough stretch we have had a good half where we outplayed the other team and if you can do that then you can out play them for 40 minutes."

Saint Peter's had a trio of players in double figures, led by Talah Hughes with 12 points. Bethea finished with 11 and Sam Meier had 10 points and nine rebounds. 

The Knights have nine days off before taking the court next against Howard on December 22. Tip is set for 2 p.m. against the Bison at the Rothman Center.