FAIRFIELD, Conn. -  The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team fell on the road Sunday afternoon against Sacred Heart by a final score of 61-48.  The loss moves the Knights to 15-14 (7-11 NEC) on the season and marks the conclusion of FDU's regular season schedule. 

Amina Markovic led the Knights offensively with 17 points as well as a team-high eight boards. Madelynn Comly finished with a team-leading four assists to go along with 13 points. 

"This game had a playoff feel to it today, both teams played extremely hard," head coach Pete Cinella said post game. "Overall, I'm happy with the way the team battled for forty minutes.  Sacred Heart managed to hit more key shots, and they got to the foul line more and out-rebounded us.  Those were the three biggest things that we had trouble with." 

The Knights raced out to an early lead Sunday, starting on a 4-0 run.  Amina Markovic made her presence felt right off the hop, making back-to-back layups including an impressive effort in transition off of a Peniel M'Bikata steal 90 seconds into the game. 

Back to back jumpers from Madelynn Comly as well as a three from Natalie Zamora helped to stem the tide of Sacred Heart's offense, however the Pioneers continued to hit big shots in the second and took a 29-20 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.  

FDU continued to mount a spirited comeback effort in the third, outscoring Sacred Heart 12-11 in the third frame.  Markovic continued to make her presence in the post felt with a smooth finish at the rim for two before Comly drained a deep three just over a minute later. FDU managed to pull within four of the Pioneers late in the third at 34-30, however the comeback attempt would ultimately fall short. 

Despite a big pair of threes in the final frame from Lauren Francillon and Kamrin Weimer, SHU pulled away in the end, securing the 61-48 win. 

After a stretch of four consecutive games with 20 or more turnovers, FDU managed the ball much better on Sunday, giving it away just 12 times and allowing SHU 16 points off of those turnovers.  

Candice Leatherwood and Kathrine Haines each finished with a team-high 18 points on the afternoon.  Leatherwood also led the Pioneers in rebounds with nine. 

"We kept our fouls lower today which I was happy with, and we managed to get the ball to Amina in some spots," Cinella said.  "We just need to find a way to get a better start to the game."