JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team played a huge second half to come from behind and defeat Saint Peter's, 77-71, and win its third game in a row.
 
The Knights (3-7) erased a 10-point halftime deficit to gain the lead in the third quarter and made 17-of-27 shots in the second half to outscore the Peacocks (3-5) by 16 points in the second half, 49-33. FDU scored its season-high in points and held Saint Peter's under their season average of 79.6 points per game while having four different players score in double figures.
 
Senior Lauren Francillon recorded her second straight double-double, going for 17 points and 12 rebounds while making 8-of-12 shots. Junior Madison Stanley led the Knights with 20 points and a career-high eight assists to go with five rebounds and two blocks. Sophomores Rachael Niles (12 points) and Lindsey Mack (10 points) each added double-figure point totals as well, and freshman Celia Carbonell made three three-pointers for a season-high of nine points.
 
"It feels great, and I'm so happy for the girls," said head coach Angelika Szumilo. "We challenged them in the locker room. We knew we were going to put the ball in the basket, our issue was we didn't defend the right way in the first half. We had a huge third quarter outscoring them 25-12. Lauren comes in again with a huge double-double and a lot of offensive rebounds, she's playing with so much confidence. And Madison reads the defense very well and she hit some huge baskets."
 
Saint Peter's hit their first four three-point tries of the game before senior Courtney Blankenship made a lefty layup to end the initial run. Francillon later matched two Peacocks baskets, and Carbonell then drained a three from the corner to cut the deficit down to seven.
 
The Knights continued their climb back as Roters found Francillon inside for two straight layups to make it 16-13, and another Carbonell three brought the Knights all the way back to tie the game.
 
The Peacocks made a three to end the first quarter and extended their lead back up to 12 in the second period and took a 38-28 lead into the halftime break. FDU cut the deficit to five with a Stanley layup and Mack three-pointer. Another three from Roters later trimmed the margin to four, and a Stanley jumper made it 48-46. One minute later, Stanley tied the game with another jumper and gave the Knights their first lead at 50-48 on a midrange shot with two minutes left in the period.
 
FDU entered the fourth quarter up three after Niles drained a long-range shot to end the third period, and Mack scored the first five points of the final period to give FDU an eight-point advantage. The Peacocks then went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead before Niles made a three in transition to put the Knights back in front for good.
 
Niles' three launched a 12-0 run that gave the Knights an 11-point cushion, and the Knights held off one last Saint Peter's surge to clinch their first three-game winning streak in two seasons.
 
FDU won the rebounding advantage by a wide margin, 47-28, and dished out 19 assists, topping their season-best mark from the previous win vs. Siena. The Knights shot 46.8 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from deep while making 10-of-11 free throws, with Niles making six big free throws in the final quarter to help seal the win. FDU held Saint Peter's to 37.3 percent shooting and only allowed 6-of-25 Saint Peter's threes (24 percent).
 
The Knights play their final non-conference game on the road on December 29, traveling north to take on UMass Lowell at 2 p.m.