SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- For the first time since the 2011-2012 season, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball topped Bryant, and they needed overtime to do on Saturday, 77-69.
The win extends the Knights' streak to five games. That is the longest streak since the Knights won six in a row back in the 2010-11 campaign.
Fairleigh Dickinson (14-7, 6-4 NEC) tied the game at 61 with 53 seconds left on a 3-pointer from
Natalie Zamora. The score remained the same heading into overtime.
The Knights then open the overtime period on a 12-2 run, which lasted 2:31, to take a 73-63 lead. Zamora, who had three points before her game-tying three, had eight in the stretch and finished the game with 15 points.
"Great overall team. What can you say about Natalie [Zamora]? Down five, she hit a tough layup and then the game-tying three," said head coach
Peter Cinella.
Bryant (6-15, 5-5 NEC) was 1-of-4 from the field and turned it over once during the Knights stretch to start overtime.
The lead got down to eight in overtime for the Knights. Fairleigh Dickinson would make 4-of-5 from the free throw line inside the final minute to preserve the win.
Fairleigh Dickinson had led for a majority of the game before Bryant took a 53-51 lead with 7:59 left in the fourth on a Sydney Holloway basket. The Knights would take a short-lived lead at 54-53 before Bryant would retake the lead 55-54 and led until Zamora tied it at 61 inside the last minute.
The win also keeps the Knights undefeated when leading at the half. Fairleigh Dickinson was up 27-26 after the intermission.
Lauren Francillon grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and rejected four shots.
Kamrin Weimer--like Zamora--came off the bench and scored in double figures with 13. The bench scored 43 of the Knights 77 points.
Amina Markovic added 13 points and got eight rebounds.
Peniel M'Bikata had 12 points also.
Holloway led all scorers with 29 points and 22 rebounds. Naomi Ashley and Hannah Scalan were in double figures for Bryant.
Defensively, the Knights held Bryant to 1-of-10 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Knights 52-38 but turned the ball over more than Fairleigh Dickinson (22-16).
Cinella added, "Our bench was excellent today. [Down the stretch] The team was locked in defensively and got key defensive rebounds. [We also] Took care of the ball and Natalie scored in a variety of ways. The depth of our roster has to continue to play well moving forward and give us a chance to extend this streak."
The Knights seek a sixth straight win on Monday night when they travel to Central Connecticut State. The tip is at 7 p.m. and streamed on NECFrontRow.com.
