HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team hit 12 three-pointers and held a lead into the fourth quarter against Saint Francis U, but a late run by SFU helped them to earn a 77-65 win Saturday afternoon in the Rothman Center.
 
The Knights (6-17, 3-9 NEC) connected on 7-of-15 deep balls in the first half and made five more in the second half in achieving their season-high for threes made in a game. FDU trailed by three at the half but took a lead early in the third period that they held into the fourth period.
 
The Red Flash, however, went on an extended run in the fourth to go up by double digits, and the Knights could not recover with time winding down.
 
Sophomore Madison Stanley led the Knights with 16 points, tying her career high, to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Senior Madelynn Comly continued her solid play in NEC games this season with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, and freshman Lindsey Mack hit a team-best four threes to reach a season-high 12 points.
 
Junior Lauren Francillon also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot to go with five points. In the process, she passed 500 career rebounds and became the seventh player in program history to reach 100 career blocks.
 
Senior Peniel M'Bikata added nine points and had a career-best seven steals, while senior Natalie Zamora dished out five assists, netted nine points on three triples and recorded two steals.
 
"I thought we did a good job outscoring them from the field and hitting our threes," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "Normally if you hit more threes than a Saint Francis team, you think you have a good chance. We also won the turnover battle, but they were able to make more free throws than us. Give credit to them, they were able to step up defensively in the fourth quarter, but I'm proud of how our team played hard and really did a good job of finding the open man. That was one of our best passing games of the season."
 
Both teams hit three-pointers to start the game, with Comly draining the opening three for the Knights. Comly later drove for a fast-break layup to put the Knights in front again, and a Zamora three answered a SFU three-pointer to make it 8-8.
 
The Red Flash then scored six straight points before Stanley ended the short streak with two free throws. Zamora cut the deficit down to three on a three from the top of the key, and Comly followed with a short jumper to make it 16-15. Mack tied the score again at 18-18 with her first three.
 
SFU countered with five straight points before Zamora sank her third triple of the period, helping end the first period with the Knights only down by four. Comly answered a SFU bucket with another short jumper, and M'Bikata later connected from downtown to make it 29-26.
 
Mack kept the three barrage going for the Knights to cut the deficit down to two, and M'Bikata tied the game at 31-31 with a steal and a finish with her left hand.
 
The Red Flash retook the lead on a three and Francillon answered with a jumper to make it 34-33, but the Red Flash closed the half with a layup and took a 36-33 lead into the locker room.
 
Stanley started the second half for the Knights with a layup and a Francillon layup kept the Knights within one in the opening minutes of the half. Comly then provided the Knights the lead with a corner three, and M'Bikata grew the advantage to four after a steal and a layup.
 
Stanley kept the Knights in front with a layup after SFU answered with four straight points to tie the game, and a Comly layup later made it 47-45 with under three minutes left in the third period.
 
A layup from the Red Flash tied the game again, but Mack connected for her third triple of the game to provide FDU again with the lead, and the Knights entered the final period leading 50-49.
 
SFU retook the lead with a layup to start the fourth quarter, but Stanley answered with a layup off an inbounds pass from Zamora. M'Bikata then upped the lead to three with an offensive rebound and layup, but the Red Flash answered with 15 straight points in going ahead 66-54 with just over three minutes remaining.
 
Stanley ended the run with a three-pointer, and Mack drained her fourth three of the game to make it a seven-point game with two minutes to go. Stanley again connected from deep after a SFU three to keep the margin at seven, but the Red Flash then earned a three-point play the old fashioned way to go up 73-63 with 1:30 remaining.
 
Stanley then tied her career high with a driving layup, but the Red Flash hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 
The Red Flash benefited from a decisive advantage at the free throw line, making 17-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe. They also had a 41-30 advantage on the boards, but the Knights won the turnover battle, 21-17, and held the Red Flash to below their season average from three (8-of-25, 32 percent). FDU shot 37.9 percent from the field, while SFU was nearly 50 percent from the field (26-of-53).
 
The Knights also held the NEC's leading scorer, Red Flash senior Jess Kovatch, to only her second game under 20 points in NEC play this season. Kovatch led all scorers with 19 points.
 
FDU returns to action Monday night, traveling to Smithfield, R.I., to face Bryant at 7 p.m.