MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team opens the 2017 Northeast Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Robert Morris.
QUICK HITTERS
• The Knights are playing in the NEC Tournament for a third straight season. It is the first time since 06-08 that FDU has made three consecutive postseason appearances.
• It is the third straight season that FDU and RMU will be playing each other in the quarterfinals. All three meetings in the postseason have been in Moon Township.
• Sunday will be the ninth time in the last three seasons that RMU & FDU have faced one another.
• FDU has six wins in the NEC Tournament all time. Three came in 1990 and 1992. Both of those seasons FDU won the NEC Tournament.
SERIES SCORE
Sunday will be the fifth time that the Knights and Colonials will meet in the NEC Tournament -- 1992, 2007, 2015, 2016. FDU's is 1-3 in the previous four meetings, the lone win coming back in the quarterfinals of the 1992 NEC Tournament, 63-53. Overall in the series, the Knights have lost three straight meetings after sweeping the Colonials during the 2015-16 regular season.
LAST TIME OUT
Fairleigh Dickinson fell to Robert Morris 62-48 in the regular season finale on Monday night. The Knights were held under 50 points for the sixth time this season. The Colonials scored 14 of the first 20 points of the game and led 19-8 after the first quarter. The Knights had cut the lead to seven late in the second quarter, but RMU hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to move the lead back to 10. The Colonials used the momentum to hold the Knights to only six points in the third quarter to pull away and win. Amina Markovic had 21 points and eight rebounds. Madelynn Comly added 12 points.
ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials won the NEC Regular Season title for the first time since the 2013-14 season with the win over FDU and Sacred Heart's loss to Saint Francis U. Robert Morris finished the regular season at 19-10 overall and 14-4 in NEC play. Robert Morris guard Anna Niki Stamolampruo was named NEC Player of the Year and First Team All-NEC. The senior led Robert Morris in scoring at 16.4 per game. Megan Smith, who was second on the team in scoring, was named Third Team All-NEC.
NEC TOURNAMENT
The Knights have made the NEC Tournament in three straight seasons for the first time under Peter Cinella. Cinella has guided the Knights to the NEC Tournament seven times in 10 seasons.
REMEMBER 1992?
The last time FDU won the NEC Tournament was 1992 when they also played RMU in the quarterfinals -- won 63-53 in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
REVERSE A TREND
The Knights will try to end an 18-game Northeast Conference Tournament losing streak. That streak spans 25 years. Since 2000, the Knights have never been the higher seed in any of their 12 losses over the last 17 seasons.
PAST CHAMPIONS
FDU is one of six schools who have won an NEC Tournament Title in their histories. Bryant and Central Connecticut are the two schools in this year's tournament, who have never won an NEC Tournament Title.
