HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team seeks a road win when it travels to Northeast Conference-rival LIU Brooklyn Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m., game.
 
The game will be streamed live for free on NEC Front Row, and live stats will be available at liuathletics.com.
 
ENTERING THE KNIGHT
The Knights (4-11, 1-3 NEC) held an early lead in its road game at Wagner Monday night before the home team battled back late in the second quarter to take a halftime lead and eventually hold onto for a 71-59 FDU loss. Senior Natalie Zamora scored a career-high 20 points and made five three-pointers, all in consecutive tries. She also finished with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior Lauren Francillon led the Knights with eight rebounds, and senior Madelynn Comly added eight points and three boards. The Knights shot 42 percent from the floor and 36 percent from beyond the arc and dished out 17 assists as a team, but Wagner forced the Knights into 20 turnovers for just the third time this year.
 
FRANCE-E-ON A ROLL
Through four NEC games, Francillon is averaging 16.7 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game while shooting 56 percent from the floor (23-of-41) and 94 percent at the free throw line (17-of-18). The junior, along with Zamora, was named a NEC Prime Performer after going for 31 points, 16 rebounds in the win over CCSU while making 10-of-12 shots from the field and all 11 of her free throw attempts. Francillon is second in the NEC in free throw shooting (.842), tied for ninth in rebounding (6.2 rpg) and 15th in scoring (10.6) for the season. Over her last seven games, she is averaging 14.4 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 1.1 blocks per game, shooting 49 percent from the floor and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe.
 
ZAMORA STEPPING UP
Zamora scored in double figures in each of her last two games, following up a 15-point effort vs. CCSU with a career-high 20 points at Wagner Monday night. Zamora tied her career high of five three-pointers and has made 7-of-14 threes in her last two games. She leads the NEC in steals per game with 2.3 and also is sixth in the league with 2.9 assists per game, dishing out at least four assists in each of her past three games. Zamora has at least two steals in 12 of 15 games this season. Zamora's next point she scores will be the 500th of her career.
 
DEFENSIVE PRESSURE
The Knights are one of the top defensive units in the NEC this season, ranking second in the league in blocks (3.9) and steals (9.6) per game. Along with Zamora leading the league in steals, senior Peniel M'Bikata ranks fifth in the conference with 1.8 steals per game. Sophomore Madison Stanley leads the Knights with 1.0 block per game, followed by Francillon (0.9) and freshman Lindsey Mack (0.6). FDU also is third in the conference in points allowed (66.3), three-point field goal defense (29.1) and turnover margin (+1.1).
 
500 WINS
On January 12, the Knights made history in their 74-67 victory over CCSU, reaching 500 all-time wins as a program. The team has played in a total of 1,177 games since beginning the program in 1977. FDU has won 215 NEC games over the previous 500 wins.
 
SERIES SCORE
FDU leads the all-time series with LIU Brooklyn, 42-30, in a series that began back in FDU's first season as a program. The teams split the two meetings last year, with the road team winning in each game. The Knights first defeated the Blackbirds in Brooklyn, 61-49, and then LIU won in the Rothman Center, 62-53. M'Bikata scored in double figures in both games for the Knights, including a then career-high 17 points in the home loss, and Francillon finished with a double-double in the previous meeting (11 points, 12 rebounds). The Knights have earned wins in four of the last six meetings overall and each of the previous two times playing in Brooklyn. FDU is 18-16 all-time when playing LIU Brooklyn on the road.
 
SCOUTING LIU BROOKLYN
The Blackbirds (1-14, 0-4 NEC) have lost all four games in 2019 after ending non-conference play with a win over Lafayette. LIU is last in the NEC with a scoring average of 52.5 points per game and has given up 70-plus points in nine games this season. Last week saw the Blackbirds fall at home to Saint Francis U (80-66) and Robert Morris (89-37). Sophomore Jeydah Johnson, who leads the team with 13.3 ppg, poured in 17 points vs. SFU, while freshman Brandy Thomas (11.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg) finished with 22 points and eight rebounds vs. SFU. LIU Brooklyn was picked seventh in the NEC preseason poll.
 
AROUND THE NEC
Two teams, Sacred Heart and Robert Morris, remain unbeaten through four NEC games, while LIU Brooklyn and CCSU are still searching for their first win. Both unbeaten teams are on the road Saturday, with Robert Morris heading to Bryant and Sacred Heart traveling to St. Francis Brooklyn. CCSU hosts Saint Francis U while Mount St. Mary's goes to Wagner in the other two NEC matchups for the day.