HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team played well defensively but could not get shots to fall down the stretch against Binghamton, falling 60-48 on Saturday in the Rothman Center.
 
The Knights (0-5) held the Bearkats (6-0) to 16 points below their season average and limited the nation's leading scorer, Kai Moon, to just seven points through the first 17 minutes of play. After halftime, FDU went on a 7-0 run in the third quarter capped by an Elise Graham layup that cut the deficit down to two, 34-32. Binghamton, however, extended the lead back to 10 early in the fourth quarter and pulled away as the quarter progressed.
 
"They're a good team both defensively and offensively," head coach Angelika Szumilo said. "We were playing without our leading scorer today, and I thought Binghamton did a very good job of taking Lindsey [Mack], our second leading scorer, away by not letting her get many clean looks. We held them to 60, so that was a positive, and I thought we did a pretty good job defensively."
 
Sophomore Rachael Niles led the Knights with 13 points, making three three-pointers and assisting on three baskets as well. Freshman Maria Roters finished with 10 points for her second straight game in double figures, and freshman Sierra DeAngelo made both of her field goals and 5-of-6 free throws to finish with nine points. Senior Courtney Blankenship led FDU with six rebounds to go with five points.
 
Roters and Graham each matched a Binghamton basket with scores of their own through the first five minutes, but the Bearkats then scored the next seven points before DeAngelo made a jumper to beat the first-period buzzer, making it 11-6.
 
A Niles three and a DeAngelo layup off a nice feed inside from Blankenship helped FDU trim the margin down to four, and after a Bearkat layup, the Knights forced stops on Binghamton's next two possessions, leading Niles to find an open Celia Carbonell for a corner three to cut the lead down to three, 17-14. Moon then connected on her first of three-straight triples with three minutes to go, but Niles and Roters each drained threes of their own to help FDU keep pace.
 
Roters connected on another three to start the third period, and after a mini Binghamton run, two Blankenship free throws followed by a Niles three ignited the Knights on their 7-0 run, with Graham driving into traffic for a layup that made it 34-32 with 3:45 left in the period.
 
Binghamton, however, responded with eight of the next 10 points to go back up 42-34, but Blankenship and Graham scored the next five points to make it 42-39 at the end of three quarters.
 
The Bearkats then scored the first 13 of 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull ahead by double-digits, which they held throughout the period.
 
FDU made a season-high 10-of-12 free throws (83.3 percent) in the contest but shot 32 percent from the floor. Binghamton made 44.6 percent of its shots and had a 38-29 rebounding advantage. The Knights won the turnover battle, committing only 11 while forcing 13 Bearkat mistakes.
 
"We just need to learn to trust each other on both ends," Szumilo said. "They're working so hard, and I want that first win for them because they're working really hard and we can see the improvement. We're getting there, but it's really going to be about paying attention to the details and making sure we execute them on both ends on a regular basis."  
 
The Knights take a week break over Thanksgiving before returning to action on Saturday, November 30, at 2 p.m., against Army West Point in the Rothman Center. Tickets for the game can be purchased online in advance at fduknights.com/tickets.