EASTON, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team opened the 2019-20 season Tuesday night at Lafayette, falling 61-29.
 
With head coach Angelika Szumilo making her FDU debut, the Knights (0-1) started slow on offense out of the gate but improved as the game went along, scoring a majority of their points in the second half. The Leopards (1-0), however, shot 15-of-29 in the first half in building their lead that sustained throughout the game.
 
"First game gitters," Szumilo said after the game. "We didn't shoot well and that affected our defense. There's a lot of things that we're going to come back home with and we're going to address those things and get better."
 
Sophomore Lindsey Mack led the Knights with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, making 3-of-9 shots from three-point range. Freshman Aniya Bell added nine points on 4-of-7 shooting off the bench in her FDU debut, and junior Madison Stanley chipped in six points and two blocks. Sophomore Rachael Niles led the Knights with seven rebounds.
 
Lafayette came out of the opening tip with the first five points before Stanley made FDU's first basket on a driving layup. The Leopards then scored the next 11 points before sophomore Makayla Thompson ended the run with a layup.
 
Mack sank her first triple of the night midway through the second quarter, and Stanley and Bell each added baskets in the quarter, but Lafayette took a 37-11 lead into halftime.
 
Mack, Stanley and Bell helped the Knights start out the third quarter outscoring Lafayette 7-4, but the Leopards ended the period on a 8-0 run. The Knights could not cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter, with Lafayette maintaining its lead for the win.
 
Freshman Celia Carbonell started for the Knights in her FDU debut and recorded her first career assist. Freshmen Sierra DeAngelo and Jayde Boyd combined to collect five rebounds in making their collegiate debuts as well.
 
The Knights return home for their next game, taking on Loyola (Md.) in the Rothman Center on Wednesday, November 13, at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased online at fduknights.com/tickets.