HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team suffered from a big third quarter by Merrimack and dropped the home game 84-66 in the Rothman Center Monday night.
 
The Knights (8-14, 5-6 NEC) trailed for most of the game but pulled back to within one point with less than two minutes left until halftime after being down by as many as 12 in the half. The Warriors (15-8, 8-4 NEC) then scored the last five points of the half before erupting for 31 third-quarter points in building a lead that FDU could not recover.
 
FDU, however, ended the game on a 16-4 run over the final 3:30 of the game. The Knights generated seven Merrimack turnovers in that stretch, with sophomore Madeline Selvaggi gaining five steals in less than two minutes.
 
Freshmen Aniya Bell and Jayde Boyd each reached season-high point totals in the game. Bell, the current NEC Co-Rookie of the Week, poured in 16 points for her third straight game in double figures, while Boyd reached 11 points while making all three of her triples for her first double-digit point total of the season.
 
"The five that finished the game and played the last five minutes was the hardest our team played," head coach Angelika Szumilo said after the game. "Very proud of them because they could have easily given up and they didn't, they played really hard. Merrimack capitalized on our defensive mistakes in the third quarter, and when a good team like them is hitting their shots, they're tough to beat."
 
Freshman Maria Roters led FDU with 11 rebounds and four assists while also chipping in seven points. Selvaggi's five steals were the most in a game by a Knight this season, and the most by any Knight since Makayla Thompson swiped six steals in last year's season opener.
 
Merrimack started out the game making five of their first seven shots from three in taking a 17-5 lead. Bell cut the margin down to eight at the end of the first period with a tough jumper in the paint, and her layup followed by a Lindsey Mack three brought the Knights back within three, 20-17, to start the second quarter.
 
Sophomore Rachael Niles later made a three to cut the lead down to two with 4:37 left in the half, and Boyd drilled her second three of the game with 1:58 left to make it 30-29. The Warriors, however, scored the last five points of the half to take a 35-29 lead into the locker room, and later built their lead back to double-digits early in the third period.
 
With FDU trailing 52-42 with 3:56 left, Merrimack scored 14 straight points before a Niles floater beat the third period buzzer, making it 66-44.
 
The Warriors continued to build their lead up until Selvaggi's first steal after two Thompson free throws sparked a 16-4 run for the Knights. Four of Selvaggi's five pilfers led to FDU points, with Thompson, Bell and freshman Celia Carbonell each scoring after a steal by the sophomore.
 
The Knights shot 38.6 percent from the field and 36.8 from three in the game, while Merrimack connected on 50 percent of its total shots and 56.5 percent of shots from three. FDU did have a 34-33 advantage on the boards and recorded 13 assists to go with nine steals.
 
FDU travels to western Pennsylvania for its next game on Saturday, February 15, facing NEC unbeaten Robert Morris at 4 p.m.