STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – In a battle of the top two NEC defenses and the second game of the home-and-home series against Wagner, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team (12-7, 8-6 NEC) again held Wagner (7-4, 7-3 NEC) to a season-low in points in a 71-46 win on Monday night from the Spiro Sports Center. Four Knights reached double-figures the victory and FDU held Wagner to a season-low in points for the second straight game. The win is FDU's third in a row and fourth in their past five contests and FDU dished out a season-high 19 assists.

Senior Madison Stanley has now scored 10 or more points in 12 straight games as the senior scored 21 points on 8-15 from the floor, including 15 first half points. Junior Lindsey Mack connected on five three-pointers for the fourth straight game and was 5-10 from behind the arc in the win. Sophomore Maria Roters also reached double-figures with 14 points. Freshman Chloe Wilson grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and scored 10 points.

FDU is currently in fifth place in the NEC standings at 8-6 with four games to go. The top four teams in the NEC standings at the end of the year qualify for the NEC Tournament. Click this link for the current NEC standings.

Coach Szumilo's Thoughts
"This was a great team effort by us on both ends of the court," said coach Szumilo following FDU's 71-46 win over Wagner. "I thought we were very focused from the start and stuck to our defensive plan to a t. I am very proud of this team as Wagner is a very good basketball team, so to win in such a way is huge for us and our confidence going into the last four games of the regular season."

How it Happened

• Stanley, sophomore Maria Roters, and junior Lindsey Mack all hit triples over the first 4:20 in the game to give FDU an early 9-2 lead, but Wagner ended the quarter on a 7-4 run as FDU led 13-9 after a quarter in which Roters led the team with six points and FDU's defense held Wagner to shoot 26.7 percent from the floor.
• FDU's defense held Wagner scoreless over the first three minutes of the second and Stanley scored FDU's first six points of the frame as FDU held a 19-11 edge with 5:57 to go in the quarter and FDU held Wagner to only five points the rest of the period as well as only six made field goals the entire half and got a pair of three-pointers from Mack and six more points from Stanley as FDU led 31-16 at the half.
• Junior Madeline Selvaggi provided an offensive spark early in the second half as the junior scored or assisted on nine of FDU's first 11 second half points and held Wagner to only six points in that stretch as FDU took a 42-22 lead with 4:06 left in the third, but Wagner outscored FDU by five despite Mack's fifth three-pointer of the game and Roters connecting on the team's ninth three of the night as Wagner trailed 48-33 after three periods.
• Wagner opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 50-40 with 7:26 remaining, but Stanley and freshman Chloe Wilson both scored to pushed the lead back to 14 with 5:13 to play.
• Wilson and the Knights ended the game on a 17-6 run as Wilson scored a team-leading eight points over the final 5:13 of action to help FDU sweep the season series against Wagner.

Inside the Box Score

• Wagner's 16 first half points were the second-fewest allowed in a half by FDU this season, held LIU to 10 points in second half (2/5).
• FDU shot 46.2 percent from the floor and connected on 24 shots in the contest.
• The Burgundy and Blue outrebounded Wagner by a 40-29 margin.
• The Knights dished out 19 assists and scored 24 points in the paint.
• FDU forced 16 Wagner turnovers and recorded seven steals.
• Selvaggi dished out a team-high seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.
• Junior Emilija Krista Grava led Wagner with 10 points and was 6-6 from the free throw line
• FDU is now 43-36 all-time against Wagner and have won the past four in the series.
• Eight FDU players scored at least two points in the game and five tallied at least five points.

What's Next
FDU will return home for the final home games of the regular season from the Rothman Center when they face Sacred Heart on Sunday, February 28 at 4:00 p.m. on NEC Front Row.