STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Despite a strong fourth-quarter effort and a career-high scoring effort from senior Peniel M'Bikata, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fell on the road against a tough Stony Brook team by a score of 63-49.
 
The Knights (2-7) outscored the Seawolves (8-1) by a margin of 19-6 in the final period, limiting the Seawolves to only shooting 3-for-12 in the quarter. M'Bikata helped provide the offense during the period, scoring nine points in the quarter and finishing the game with 20 points, surpassing her previous high of 19 points earlier this season against Howard.
 
Stony Brook, however, played a strong first half, entering halftime up by 24 points and making the margin too much for the Knights to overcome late in the game despite outscoring Stony Brook in the second half, 34-24.
 
M'Bikata shot 7-for-13 from the field, making three triples and three free throws as well. Junior Lauren Francillon also scored in double figures, adding 10 points and five rebounds. Junior Charee Osborne grabbed a season-high nine rebounds, and senior Natalie Zamora tied her season-high with four steals.
 
"We know Stony Brook is one of the best teams we'll play all season, but that second half is the way we want to play," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "We outscored them by double figures [in the second half] and outrebounded them, really ran our offense the best we have all year. Good to see Penny get in such a good rhythm. We had our high-low game going effectively, and there were a lot of positives. This could set the tone for how we want to play the way we played in the second half."
 
The Knights started slow on offense but finished the first period scoring five of the final eight points. Francillon drained a deep two-pointer, and Zamora then stole a pass that led to a transition three-pointer from freshman Lindsey Mack to make it 13-7.
 
The Seawolves started the second period on a 7-0 run to go up by 16 before senior Madelynn Comly hit a runner in the lane to stop the run. M'Bikata later made two driving layups to try to start a run for the Knights, but Stony Brook countered with eight straight points and entered the halftime break up 39-15.
 
M'Bikata again made a driving layup to start the third period, but the Seawolves continued to push the pace on offense despite the Knights hitting four of five shots for a stretch of the quarter.
 
FDU started the fourth period with turnaround jumpers by Francillon and Osborne before the Seawolves answered with a layup. The Knights continued to fight back, going on a 11-2 run highlighted by six straight points from M'Bikata, who reached her career-high getting fouled on a made layup and sinking the bonus free throw.
 
Francillon continued the run with a layup to make it 63-47. The Knights trimmed the deficit down to 14 on two Zamora free throws, but time ran out for the Knights to make any further dent in the margin.
 
The Knights shot 12-for-26 in the second half and made seven of nine free throw-attempts as well as 3-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. FDU blocked five shots, including two from Francillon and sophomore Madison Stanley, and forced Stony Brook to commit 12 turnovers.
 
Stony Brook shot 16-for-29 in the first half while building its lead and finished the game with three players in double figures, led by guards Shania Johnson and Jerell Matthews with 12 points each.
 
The Knights take an extended 13-day break before their next game at Saint Peter's on December 21 at 7 p.m.
 
"We'll try to get better over the next week of practice," Cinella said. "Take a few days off and then get ready for Saint Peter's."