HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Knights (11-4, 3-0) defended their home court, Stratis Arena, for the first time in over a month when they defeated CCSU (4-11, 1-3) 59-53.
Both teams traded buckets to begin the game. At the media timeout, the score was 9-8 with the Knights holding a one-point lead with
Ella Fajardo leading the way with five points. They closed out the first 10 minutes of play with a strong and-one from
Chloe Wilson to give the Knights a 14-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
FDU drilled seven points in the first 2:30 minutes of the quarter to force CCSU to use a timeout. Buckets from
Celia Carbonell and a layup from
Miranda Elebring gave the Knights a 21-15 lead. Fajardo and Carbonell provided the Knights with an abundance of scoring in the first half with 14 combined points. The Knights forced 13 turnovers in the first half and scored 14 points off those takeaways.
The Blue Devils came out of the half on a 5-0 run to force a timeout from head coach
Angelika Szumilo and cut the FDU lead to one point. The under-five timeout saw both teams tied at 33-33 due to a 9-4 Blue Devils run to start the half. FDU cashed in three straight buckets to end the quarter to lea 42-38 going into the final 10 minutes of play.
Carbonell and Fajardo drilled their seventh combined three to open the fourth quarter, the Knights led 48-40. At the final media timeout, the Knights lead 54-45 after a 12-6 FDU run behind four straight three-pointers. The Knights lead was too much for the Blue Devils to overcome.
- Fajardo led all scorers with 15 points including 3-for-5 from three
- Senior DeAngelo pitched in 10 points and seven rebounds vs. CCSU
- Carbonell nailed four three-pointers on her way to scoring 12 points.
- The Knights jump back into action quickly when they host Stonehill on Monday, January 16 at Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center. The Knights and Sky Hawks will face off for the first time this season on NEC Front Row at 2 p.m.
