HACKENSACK, N.J. – The no. 3 seeded Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team solidified its place in history Monday night, defeating Bryant 57-43 in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinals to advance to the semifinal round for the first time since 1992.
 
The Knights (13-17) led for a majority of the game, including the entire second half, before going on a critical 13-0 run over a stretch of seven minutes in the fourth quarter to win for the second time at home in NEC Tournament history. FDU also snapped a 21-game losing streak in the NEC Tournament with the victory.
 
The Knights advance to play at no. 2 seed Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m., making a return trip to Emmitsburg after defeating the Mountaineers in the regular-season finale.
 
"Obviously, it was an amazing win," head coach Angelika Szumilo said after the game. "It was a great team effort and I think today was really what we have talked about since day one with our defensive intensity. Our focus on defense today was there, as we held them to 43 points."
 
Freshman Maria Roters led FDU with 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds, shooting 6-of-12 from the floor. Senior Lauren Francillon reached double figures for her eighth straight game, adding 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Rachael Niles contributed nine points, and freshman Sierra DeAngelo scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds, making 5-of-6 free throws.
 
Sophomore Madeline Selvaggi played 35 big minutes and tied her career-high with six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
 
Francillon netted FDU's first four points of the game, and Niles provided FDU their first lead at 9-7 on a three-pointer. The Bulldogs (10-20) regained the lead and held a two-point advantage after one quarter, but the Knights quickly made up the ground on a three-pointer by Celia Carbonell and a Niles layup made it 17-14.
 
Bryant then went on an 8-0 run to go up by five before Selvaggi ended the run with a layup that drew contact and a foul. She missed the ensuing free throw, but junior Madison Stanley grabbed the rebound to keep possession for FDU, leading to a Roters three that tied the game at 22.
 
Back-and-forth play continued until Francillon made a jumper with 1:39 to go in the half, and a Roters layup ended the half with FDU up 29-26. Roters then scored the first basket of the next half as well, and FDU held its five-point advantage into the fourth quarter, later going up by eight on a Niles three with eight minutes to go.
 
The Bulldogs answered with the next five points to cut the lead down to three, but a big three-pointer from Francillon started FDU's run in which they held Bryant to 0-for-8 over the next seven minutes. DeAngelo made all five of her free throws during the Knights run, and she and Selvaggi also added layups to build onto FDU's lead they would not surrender.
 
FDU has now amassed 10 wins against NEC opponents, both regular and postseason, for the first time since 2003-04. The Knights have now won five of their last seven games and carry a three-game winning streak into Thursday night's semifinal round. FDU's 13 wins this season are tied for the second-most in a single season since 1992-93 (15 wins in 2017-18).