EMMITSBURG, Md. – In a battle of the NEC's top offense and top defense, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team (8-4, 4-3 NEC) prevailed and extended its winning streak to four games with a 59-54 win over Mount St. Mary's (6-4, 5-2 NEC) on Thursday night at Knott Arena. FDU never trailed in the game and held Mount St. Mary's to its lowest point total of the season with only 54 points. 

Reigning NEC Player of the Week, sophomore Maria Roters carried over last week's momentum as she scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Roters was 7-11 from the floor and connected on four free throws. Senior Madison Stanley also netted in double-figures with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Junior Lindsey Mack scored 12 points in the game and connected on four three-pointers.

Coach Szumilo's Thoughts
"I'm super proud of our team and how we played tonight, especially on the defensive end," stated Coach Szumilo after the FDU's 59-54 win against Mount St. Mary's. "To hold Mount to 54 points is a credit to our growing commitment to individual and team defense and playing the Knight way."

How it Happened

• FDU scored the first 13 points over the first 2:47 of the game led by five points from both Roters and Stanley, Mount's Kendall Bresee ended the scoring drought with 6:16 to go in the first quarter.
• Roters and Stanley continued to dominate on the offensive end as they combined to score FDU's final six points of the first, but Mount St. Mary's brought the deficit to nine as FDU led 19-10 after one quarter of action.
• Mount St. Mary's opened the second quarter on a 11-3 run to cut the Knights lead to 22-21, but FDU held the Mount scoreless for the remainder of the period and ended the frame on an 8-0 run led by six points from freshman Chloe Wilson to give FDU a 30-21 lead into the half. 
• FDU opened the second half on a 12-4 run that was propelled by three three-pointers from Mack and three points from Stanley as FDU took a 42-25 lead with 5:52 left in the period, but the Mount ended the third quarter on a 13-2 run as FDU led 44-38 after three quarters of play.
• Stanley extended the FDU lead to seven points after connecting on a jumper with 7:02 left in the fourth quarter, but Mount St. Mary's scored the contests next six points to bring it back to a one possession game with 6:22 to go. 
• Roters then took over for the FDU offense as she scored or assisted on the Knights next eight points as she scored six and dished out an assist to freshman Devyn Scott, who hit a key jumper to give FDU a 57-51 advantage with 2:15 left in the game.
• FDU's defense held the Mount to only three points the rest of the game and forced a missed three-pointer with 9.0 remaining as a pair of Roters free throws after the missed three helped propel FDU to a 59-54 victory. 

Inside the Box Score

• FDU shot 49.0 percent from the floor and connected on 24 field goals.
• The Knights forced 15 turnovers and registered four steals.
• FDU dished out 15 assists and scored 30 points in the paint.
• The Knights outrebounded Mount St. Mary's 41-32.
• Scott grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, scored five points, and dished out three assists.
• Bresee scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
• The win is the 26th in program history against Mount St. Mary's and their second consecutive victory in the series.
• FDU will look for its first five game winning streak since February 2018 tomorrow afternoon.

What's Next
FDU will conclude the two-game series against Mount St. Mary's tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.