NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team scored a key road victory over Central Connecticut State, 63-53, Monday night in the team's hunt for a top-four seed in the Northeast Conference.
 
The Knights (9-15, 6-7 NEC) eclipsed their win total from last season with the victory and moved into a tie for the fourth seed with Bryant in the NEC standings with five games remaining. FDU shot 43 percent from three (9-of-21) in the game and forced the Blue Devils (2-23, 1-13 NEC) to commit 22 turnovers, tied for the most FDU's defense forced this season.
 
Four different Knights scored in double figures, with sophomore Rachael Niles leading the way with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Senior Lauren Francillon netted 13 points, going 3-for-3 on three-point tries, and freshman Celia Carbonell scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 three-pointers. Freshman Maria Roters rounded out the scorers in double figures with 10 points, including eight in the first period, to go with four steals, and freshman Aniya Bell nearly made it five players to reach 10 points, finishing with nine on 7-of-8 free throws.
 
"This win puts us in control of our destiny because we still have a lot of tough basketball coming up," head coach Angelika Szumilo said. "It was very important to take care of business in this road game. Lauren went 3-for-3 from three and Celia came off the bench and was huge from three, and I think it gave everybody a lot of confidence on offense. I thought we also did a great job on the defensive end sticking to our game plan, doubling Berube when she caught the ball and it caused a lot of turnovers. I thought it was a really great team effort on the defensive end."
 
The Knights also dished out 14 assists as a team, moving their record to 9-2 when reaching at least 14 assists in a game this season. FDU also recorded seven steals and made a season-best 16 free throws on 20 attempts.
 
CCSU started out the game with a lead before Francillon hit her first three-pointer to tie the game at 11, and Roters then gave the Knights their first lead on a layup assisted by senior Courtney Blankenship. The Blue Devils, however, made a three to end the opening period and then scored the first seven points of the second period to go up 23-15.
 
A Niles layup followed by a Blankenship three then started a FDU 7-1 run, with Carbonell draining back-to-back threes that tied the game and then gave FDU a 27-24 lead. The Spaniard then sank her third three of the quarter to end the half, giving the Knights a 34-28 lead at the break.
 
The Blue Devils battled back to tie the game at the start of the third period before Francillon lofted a three from the top of the key to provide FDU a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the game. The Knights later stretched their lead to 10 after back-to-back threes from Niles and Carbonell.
 
CCSU made one last run to cut the FDU lead down to two, 47-45, with 7:42 left, but FDU scored six straight points and held the Blue Devils to just three field goals over the final 7:42 of the game to wrap up the ninth win of the season.
 
The Knights held the Blue Devils to just 3-of-15 shooting from deep, but the Blue Devils had a slight edge on the boards, 30-28.
 
FDU returns home for its next two games, starting with Senior Night on Friday against LIU at 5:30 p.m. The Knights then host Robert Morris on Sunday, February 23, at 1 p.m., for the team's Think Pink Game. Tickets for both games can be purchased in advance online at fduknights.com/tickets.