HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team clinched the eighth and final Northeast Conference Tournament spot with a 68-49 victory at home over LIU Brooklyn on Senior Night.
 
The Knights (8-21, 5-13 NEC) honored the careers of their five graduating players – graduate senior Emmanuella Edoka and seniors Madelynn Comly, Peniel M'Bikata, Lucia Serrano-Ranz and Natalie Zamora – in a pregame ceremony and then came out firing on all cylinders to open up a 17-6 lead in the opening period.
 
FDU stretched its advantage to as many as 30 points midway through the third quarter and played tough defense throughout in earning the team's fifth consecutive NEC Tournament berth.
 
The Knights as the eighth seed will travel to top-seeded Robert Morris for a NEC Quarterfinal matchup on Monday, March 11. Game time is still to be determined, and the game will be streamed live on NEC Front Row.
 
All five senior players started for the Knights and scored at least four points. Serrano-Ranz scored a career-high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with three rebounds and two steals, and Zamora also totaled 12 points while recording three steals. M'Bikata added six points, while Comly and Edoka each finished with four points in their final games in the Rothman Center.
 
Sophomore Madison Stanley also scored in double figures with 10 points to go with six rebounds.
 
"Very proud of the seniors," head coach Peter Cinella said after the game. "We knew we had to win to get into the playoffs, so they got us an 8-0 lead and really spearheaded us to be up 20-plus points at halftime. Maddie, Penny and Natalie have had very good seasons and it was good to see Ella get out there and contribute as well, but Lucia had a tremendous game as our leading scorer and someone who really led the way tonight."
 
"Offensively, we had some good moments, but our defense was really good, and really shutting down the three-point game was big," Cinella continued. "They recently have beaten some very good teams and they did it hitting threes, so was key for us to shut down the three and hold them to 0-for-14."
 
The Knights shot 43.1 percent from the field and made 11-of-12 free throws in the game while dishing out out 10 assists and recording 11 steals. The defense forced LIU into committing 20 turnovers and held the Blackbirds (4-25, 3-15 NEC) to 32.7 percent from the floor. LIU did not make a three-pointer in 14 tries, representing the first time the Knights held a team without a three-point field goal since 2016.
 
Threes from Zamora and a layup by M'Bikata got the Knights out to an 8-0 start four minutes into the game. The Blackbirds closed the gap to four before freshman Rachael Niles sank a three, and after a Blackbird basket, Stanley closed the period on a 6-0 run by herself in propelling the Knights to a 17-6 lead after one quarter.
 
Edoka then finished a layup to keep the 11-point lead to start the second period, and Serrano-Ranz swished a three from the wing to increase the advantage to 12 at 22-10. The senior continued her scoring run making two shots in the paint to help FDU go up by 17, and later a three from freshman Lindsey Mack provided the Knights with a 31-11 lead.
 
The Knights upped the advantage to 22 by halftime, 37-15, and the seniors scored each of the Knights' first 10 points of the third period to help make the score 47-19. FDU then took its largest lead of the game when Comly found freshman Madeline Selvaggi with a pass in transition that led to a layup.
 
LIU never got closer than 20 points the rest of the way until hitting a free throw with 10 seconds left to create the final margin.
 
Ten different players scored a point for the Knights in the victory. Comly, who received a 1,000 point commemorative ball as part of her senior day introduction, added to her career total of 1,034 points and moved into 17th on the Knights' all-time scoring list.
 
FDU has now qualified for the NEC Tournament in 23 of 30 seasons since the conference began sponsoring women's basketball. The Knights have won the NEC Tournament two times in program history, in 1990 and 1992.
 
Monday will represent the fourth time in five years the Knights will face Robert Morris in the first round of the NEC Tournament.
 
"Definitely got to take a day off tomorrow and train," Cinella said. "Focus on the gameplan and then we're going to get after it on Saturday and head out to Robert Morris, figure out how to get a playoff win and go from there."