HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team mounted a fourth-quarter rally against Mount St. Mary's, shredding a double-digit deficit down to six points, but could not seal the deal in a 63-47 loss Monday afternoon in the Rothman Center.
 
The Knights (5-12, 2-4 NEC) started the final period down by 16 points and went on an 12-2 run that included seven points from senior Peniel M'Bikata and five more by senior Natalie Zamora, making the score 50-44 with six minutes left. The Mountaineers (8-9, 2-4 NEC), however, finished the game like they started, limiting FDU's chances down the stretch to potentially tie the game by holding the Knights to only three points in the final five minutes of the game.
 
FDU started the game on a cold shooting spell and finished shooting 30 percent from the field (16-of-53) but made 11-of-15 free throws (73.3 percent). The Mount made a big push at the beginning of the game, going up by over 20 points in the second period before the Knights started to chip away at the margin.
 
Junior Lauren Francillon turned in her second double-double effort of the season, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The junior also blocked a career-high five shots and also dished out two assists.
 
M'Bikata and sophomore Madison Stanley each added 10 points to also score in double figures. M'Bikata also finished with three rebounds and three steals, while Stanley grabbed four caroms and blocked a shot as well.
 
"We had a big deficit and cut it down to six, had the ball and a pretty good look on offense, and then it seemed like we lost momentum there," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "We played good defense in the last three quarters, but we got to find a way to get off to better starts. Lauren did a good job of controlling the middle with 11 rebounds and five blocks, and we did a much better job in the second half of being aggressive and taking good shots."
 
Mount started the game with the first 10 points to take the early lead. M'Bikata ended the run with a driving layup and a free throw after drawing a foul, but the Mountaineers continued to build their lead until a Stanley three-pointer made it 19-6.
 
The Mountaineers ended the first period with a five-point run and then scored the first five points of the second quarter before senior Madelynn Comly hit a three-pointer. Comly later sank another three and Francillon followed with four straight points to cut the deficit to 34-18. Stanley then scooped in a lefty layup to continue the 9-0 Knights run to close the half.
 
Junior Elise Graham scored a layup off a rebound to start FDU off in the second half, and Francillon followed with four points to make it 42-26. Free throws from Francillon and Zamora dropped the margin to 15, and Stanley sank a jumper before Mount ended the third period on a layup to go up 48-32.
 
M'Bikata sank a corner three to start the fourth, and a layup from Zamora followed by a M'Bikata jumper dropped the deficit down to 11. A Zamora free throw followed by a M'Bikata steal and layup cut the margin to eight, 50-42.
 
Another Zamora layup made it a two-possession game with four minutes remaining before the Mountaineers made a basket to end the run. A Mountaineer layup followed a Zamora free throw to make it 54-45, but the visitors were able to go ahead again by double-digits to put the game out of reach.
 
The Knights finished with a season-high eight blocks to go with eight steals as a team, led by freshman Rachael Niles with a season-high four pilfers. Comly dished out three assists to lead FDU and also scored six points with three rebounds. Zamora ended the game with eight points, making four of her six free throws.
 
Both teams finished with eight assists and 15 turnovers, and the Mount ended with a 41-32 advantage on the boards.
 
The Mount was led by senior Juliette Lawless, who scored a game-high 22 points in 24 minutes.
 
FDU continues its four-game home stand on Saturday with a matchup against St. Francis Brooklyn starting at 2 p.m. The game is featured as the Knights' Think Pink Day in support of breast cancer awareness.