STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Senior Natalie Zamora reached 20 points for the first time and made five three-pointers for the second time in her career, but the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fell on the road to Wagner, 71-59, Monday night in the Spiro Sports Center.
 
Zamora made 7-of-12 shots from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc in totaling her career-high point total. The senior made all of her threes in consecutive tries starting late in the second period through the middle of the third period. She also finished with four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
The Knights (4-11, 1-3 NEC) held the advantage early in the game, going up by eight points to start the second period. The rest of the second period belonged to the Seahawks (4-11, 2-2 NEC), who scored 26 points in the quarter to take a lead heading into halftime that they maintained in the second half despite a strong push offensively from the Knights.
 
"We came out and played the way we wanted to start the game," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "In the second period they started trapping us, got very physical and they were able to get to the foul line. Their post players hurt us. We responded well offensively in the second half, got some good shots, particularly Natalie was effective offensively. But defensively, we have to be better."
 
Coming off her big performance vs. Central Connecticut State, junior Lauren Francillon led the Knights with eight rebounds to go with eight points and a block. Senior Madelynn Comly also contributed eight points and three rebounds, and freshman Makayla Thompson dished out a career-high four assists.
 
Zamora started the game with a jumper from the wing and Francillon followed with a layup to start the early run. The Seahawks then scored the next five points to take the lead before graduate senior Emmanuella Edoka tied it back up at 5-5 with a free throw.
 
Comly provided FDU the lead again with a driving layup, and Francillon finished a nice feed from junior Charee Osborne to extend the advantage to 9-5. Freshman Lindsey Mack added a fast-break layup in helping the Knights end the first period on a 6-0 run.
 
Thompson started the second period with a lefty layup, making it 13-5. Wagner, however, answered with 11 straight points to retake the lead. Comly ended the run with a layup to make it 16-15, but the Seahawks responded with another run of 11 straight points before Zamora three-pointer made it 27-18.
 
Zamora made another three to match three more Wagner points, but the Seahawks entered halftime up 31-21.
 
Junior Jenna Clark and freshman Rachael Niles combined for the first five points of the third period for the Knights, but the Seahawks kept their double-digit advantage early in the second half. Zamora's third triple of the game cut the lead to nine, 38-29, with 6:30 left in the third, and she made another long ball to bring the Knights within six.
 
Zamora's fifth three and a Courtney Blankenship layup kept the Knights within six at 43-37. Wagner, however, closed the period with six of 10 points to maintain an eight-point lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Francillon finished a tough layup in traffic to drop the margin back to six to start the fourth period. Senior Lucia Serrano-Ranz then hit a three-pointer after a Wagner basket to make it 51-46, and Francillon drew a foul in the paint that led to two free throws and a one-possession game.
 
Wagner, however, answered with eight straight points before Zamora reached her career-high on a layup with four minutes left. She sank the ensuing free throw after getting fouled to make it 59-51.
 
The Seahawks made the next basket and the Knights answered with three straight points to make it 61-54 with 2:30 remaining. Senior Peniel M'Bikata later hit a three-pointer off a Niles assist to make cut the deficit back down to six, but Wagner made one last run to help seal the win with free throws.
 
The Knights shot 40 percent from the field (23-57) and made 36 percent of their three-point shots. Wagner finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor and 31 percent from deep but got to the free throw line 22 times compared to FDU's eight foul shot attempts.
 
FDU had the advantage on the glass, 34-33, but Wagner forced the Knights to commit 20 turnovers for just the third time this season. The Knights finished with 17 assists as a team.
 
The Knights look to rebound Saturday on the road against LIU Brooklyn, with that game scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off.