EMMITSBURG, Md. – Senior
Madelynn Comly scored her 1,000th career point and finished the game with a team-high 20 points as the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team fell to Mount St. Mary's in a close 62-57 battle on Saturday afternoon.
Needing nine points entering the game, the senior from Littlestown, Pennsylvania, scored seven points in the first half and then drilled a three from the wing in the third period to surpass the career milestone. She is the 18th Knight to reach the historic mark in program history, and she did so playing less than 20 miles from her childhood home with family and friends in attendance.
The Knights (6-21, 3-13 NEC) held a one-point lead at halftime and played tough on defense to start the game, but the Mountaineers (14-13, 8-8 NEC) went on an extended run in the third quarter to take a lead. The Knights fought from behind and dropped the margin down to one point late in the fourth quarter, but the Mount held on by making free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
Comly also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists while making 7-of-12 field goals and 2-of-3 three-pointers. Junior
Lauren Francillon also scored in double figures, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds to go with two blocks and three assists. Sophomore
Madison Stanley added seven points, five rebounds and two blocks as well.
"I was proud of our team's effort today," head coach
Peter Cinella said after the game. "Got to give them credit, we cut the lead down to one but then they came up and hit a big three. Our team moved the ball very well today and every player on the team was engaged mentally as well with energy and teamwork."
"Congratulations to Maddie Comly on scoring 1,000 points as well," Cinella continued. "She had a great game and was clutch hitting that three to cut the lead to one [in the fourth quarter]. Good also to see Lauren get in a good rhythm there and play well."
On reaching the historic milestone, Comly said, "It's amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better spot to do it. All my family and friends, high school friends, even kids I grew up with were here, so it's amazing I could do it here and before I graduate. I couldn't have done it without my coaches, teammates, family, friends, everyone who supported me. I'm very grateful."
Senior
Natalie Zamora opened the game with a three-pointer for the Knights, but the Mount answered with five straight points to take a 5-3 lead in the opening minutes. Comly got her first bucket on a transition layup to tie the game up, and senior
Peniel M'Bikata then hit a three-pointer to make it 8-5 Knights.
Two free throws each from Comly and Francillon later made it 12-7 in favor of the Knights, and the Knights kept their lead at four on a layup by
Emmanuella Edoka. The advantage increased to six on two Stanley free throws, and FDU took a 16-14 advantage into the second period.
Comly sank a layup to start the second period off an inside feed from Francillon and drew a foul, hitting the free throw to complete the three-point play. Mount answered with five straight points to tie the game again at 19-19, but freshman
Rachael Niles gave the Knights the lead again with a runner in the lane.
The Mountaineers then retook the lead on a three-pointer, but two Francillon layups then made it 25-22 Knights. FDU continued to play tough on defense, blocking five shots in the first half (two by Francillon) and taking a 25-24 lead into halftime while holding Mount to 25 percent from the field.
Niles and Stanley both knocked down open threes to put the Knights ahead by seven to start the second half. Junior
Elise Graham then answered a Mount layup with two free throws to make it 33-26, and Francillon put the lead back at seven with a jumper to make it 37-30.
The Mountaineers then went on a 11-0 run to go up by four. Needing only a two-point play to reach her mark, Comly then drained a three from the wing to give her the 1,000th point of her career and make it a one-point game.
The Mount entered the fourth quarter with a 43-40 lead, but Comly cut the deficit down to one with a fast-break layup, but the Mountaineers answered with back-to-back threes to go up 49-42 with seven minutes left.
Francillon then dropped the margin to five on a layup, and M'Bikata followed with a hard drive that drew a foul. She sank the shot and the free throw to make it 49-47 with six minutes to go, but Mount answered with the next four points to go back up by six.
Comly then put the Knights back within four on a driving layup and then hit a big three-pointer to cut the deficit to one with 2:25 to go. After a Mount layup, Comly later found Francillon off an inbounds play to cut the lead to one, 55-54, but Mount answered with a three-pointer with 33.5 seconds left. The senior later drove for a layup to make it a one-possession game with less than 30 seconds remaining, and FDU fouled with 17 seconds left to force two free throws and put them down 60-56.
Comly then drew a foul of her own and sank the first but missed the second to make it a three-point game with 11.5 seconds left. Mount grabbed the rebound off the missed free throw and drew a foul at the other end, making two more free throws to put the game out of reach.
FDU finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from three-point range while also making 11-of-12 free throws. The Knights matched the Mountaineers in rebounds with 38 and also dished out 13 assists while blocking seven shots. The Mount shot 33.3 percent from the field and 31 percent from deep and won the turnover battle, 16-11.
Daly Sullivan and Jatarrikah Settle each scored 14 points to lead the Mount on offense.
With Central Connecticut's victory over LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, the Knights are one game behind the Blue Devils for the eighth and final NEC Tournament spot. The Knights travel up to New Britain to face CCSU Monday night at 7 p.m., and a win in that game plus a win over LIU Brooklyn in the season finale along with a CCSU loss will put the Knights in the NEC Tournament.
