MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team battled tough in the first half but could not sustain momentum as the top-seeded Robert Morris Colonials advanced to the Northeast Conference Semifinals with a 64-38 win Monday night.
 
The Knights (8-22) held the Colonials (20-10) to 4-of-12 shooting in the first period and started out going toe-for-toe with the best regular season team in the NEC this season. The Colonials did, however, make a small run to go up by eight at halftime and then poured in 20 points in the third period while holding the Knights to nine points in the second, third and fourth quarters.
 
Senior Madelynn Comly finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting in her final game of her career, finishing up her four-year run with 1,044 career points. Junior Lauren Francillon also added 10 points to go with five rebounds and two assists, and freshman Rachael Niles led the Knights with a season-high six rebounds to go with five points.
 
Seniors Natalie Zamora, Peniel M'Bikata and Lucia Serrano-Ranz also played their final games as Knights. M'Bikata totaled three points, three rebounds and three steals, while Zamora scored two points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists. Graduate senior Emmanuella Edoka grabbed a rebound in her final collegiate game as well.
 
"I was very happy with how we followed our gameplan," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "And I liked the situation we were in during the first half. We did not get a few shots to fall, and I feel like it could've been a little closer than 28-20 if a few of our shots fell. Our goal was to hold Robert Morris under 55, and holding them to 28 in the first half, we were there. The first couple plays of the third quarter, we didn't get the shots to fall and then it was like a snowball going down a hill. We did get some good looks, but you only have a brief moment against Robert Morris' defense and you got to stick it because you don't get too many easy baskets."
 
The Knights were held to just 27.3 percent from the field for the game, making 7-of-21 field goals in the first half, but they did shoot 71.4 percent at the free throw line (10-of-14). The Knight defense forced 14 turnovers and generated eight steals for the 16th time in 30 games this season.
 
Comly opened the game with a floater in the lane and the Knight defense forced two turnovers on the first Colonial possessions, but the Colonials scored the next five points to go ahead midway through the opening period. Niles answered with a three-pointer to tie the game up at 5-5.
 
Francillon put the Knights back ahead with a three-pointer, but the Colonials answered with seven of the next eight points to go up 12-9. Junior Courtney Blankenship then sank two last-second free throws to put the Knights down by one after one quarter.
 
RMU then went ahead by four in the first three minutes of the second period before Niles made a tough layup to cut the deficit to two. A three-pointer and a layup then put the Colonials up by seven midway through the quarter, but freshman Makayla Thompson then converted a tough layup and drew a foul, sinking the ensuing free throw to trim the margin to four.
 
The Colonials, however, then extended the lead to 10 before Comly made a tough layup to make it 28-20 at halftime.
 
The Knights trimmed the deficit to seven on two Madison Stanley free throws, but a three-pointer put the Colonials back up by 10. RMU continued its run in the third period before Comly ended the drought with a jumper in the lane to make it 44-26.
 
M'Bikata then hit a three to cut further into the deficit, but RMU closed the period ahead by 19.
 
FDU started the fourth quarter scoring five straight points, with Comly finishing a transition layup and drawing a foul to provide a bonus free throw, and Francillon sank a jumper to make it 48-34. The Colonials, however, then responded with six straight points, and the Colonials kept up the offensive attack on their way to earning the win.
 
The Colonials shot 50 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from three but only made 9-of-19 free throws as a team. RMU also had the advantage on the boards, 36-27, and had three players score in double figures, led by Nina Augustin and Nneka Ezeigbo with 13 points apiece.
 
FDU ends its 2018-19 season having reached the NEC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. Four of those five years resulted in losses at Robert Morris in the quarterfinal round.