VESTAL, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fought back from a double-digit deficit to take a lead in the third period at Binghamton before ultimately falling by a score of 73-54.
The Knights (2-4) trailed at one point in the second period by 10 points before going on a 7-0 run to close the first half, and a "and-one" play from senior
Natalie Zamora eventually put the Knights ahead 39-36 in the third period. However, the Bearcats (5-3) shot the ball well from the field in the second half and amassed another lead that the Knights could not overcome.
Senior
Peniel M'Bikata led the team with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals, making all four of her foul shots and 4-of-9 field goals. Sophomore
Madison Stanley matched her career-high set in the previous game vs. Howard, totaling 11 points to go with four rebounds. Zamora led the Knights with five assists and added nine points and four rebounds.
"We really fought to take that lead in the third quarter," head coach
Peter Cinella said after the game. "Penny was playing very well, and we were doing a good job of being scrappy in that second quarter. We didn't turn the ball over really the whole game but in one stretch we had a lot of turnovers and a couple of bad transition offensive sequences. They kept coming and kept getting loose balls, and they did a good job outrebounding us."
M'Bikata opened the scoring for the Knights by banking in a three-pointer and Zamora also drained her first three-point attempt to help the Knights keep pace with the Bearcats early in the game. Blankenship joined in the action by making her first three of the season to provide a 9-8 lead for the Knights.
Binghamton scored a layup on its next possession to retake the lead, but a Stanley fast-break layup and a Zamora free throw tied the game up at 12-12. The Bearcats, however, went on a 7-0 run before M'Bikata made a tough runner in the lane to stop the run. M'Bikata later made another three-pointer to cut the lead to four before a layup by the Bearcats ended the first period at 23-17.
M'Bikata scored the first four FDU points of the second quarter as well, but Binghamton continued to shoot well from the field and extended its lead to seven midway through the period. The Bearcats jumped ahead by double-digits before junior
Lauren Francillon drained a jumper and made two free throws to make it 33-27.
Zamora later fed Francillon in transition for a layup to extend the Knights' run to 6-0, and Stanley made a free throw to cut the lead down to three, which was the margin (33-30) the teams entered halftime.
Senior
Madelynn Comly started the second half with a jumper on an offensive put-back to trim the lead to one. FDU then turned up the defensive pressure in forcing four straight Bearcat turnovers, and Comly tied the game at 36-36 with two free throws.
Zamora provided the Knights the lead again with a layup and drew a foul, sinking the "and-one" free throw to make it 39-36 with 6:08 left in the third.
Binghamton then made two three-pointers to take the advantage back and extended the lead to 50-41 at the end of the third, and the Bearcats scored the first five points of the fourth to go up by double-digits.
Graduate senior
Emmanuella Edoka broke the 11-0 Binghamton run with a layup and Comly drained a three-pointer to make it 57-46 with six minutes remaining. Francillon then made a layup to trim the deficit back to single digits.
The Bearcats, however, continued to make shots down the stretch to deny the Knights a chance at a comeback.
"Both teams were hitting shots early, and we did some good things in moments," Cinella continued. "We just had that one bad stretch."
Edoka grabbed a season-best five rebounds, and Francillon finished with eight points in 19 minutes. Comly added seven points as well.
Four players scored in double figures for Binghamton, led by senior Rebecca Carmody with 17 points.
The Knights shot 15-for-17 from the free throw line (88.2 percent) but were held to only 34.7 percent from the field and 22.7 from three-point range. Binghamton shot 47.6 percent from the field, including a 9-for-16 fourth quarter that helped extend their lead.
Both teams turned the ball over 13 times in the game and recorded five blocks, and the Knights were able to generate seven steals on defense, their sixth straight game to start the season with at least seven steals.
FDU continues its road swing with a game at Colgate Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
