FAIRFIELD, CONN. –  The FDU Knights (13-5, 5-1) traveled to the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn. to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers (8-10, 5-1). The Knights entered the contests as the number one team in the NEC but needed a win to hold on to that title. FDU dropped the back-and-forth battle versus SHU on Saturday 71-62.
 

How It Happened

The game started with both teams struggling to generate offense early in the first quarter; at the media timeout, the Knights trailed 4-2 and both teams were a combined 2-for-13 from the field. In the final two minutes of the quarter, the Knights drilled back-to-back three-pointers from Celia Carbonell and Sierra DeAngelo to take an 8-6 lead before the Pioneers struck back with a 5-1 run to end the quarter with a 11-9 lead.

Head coach Angelika Szumilo was forced to use an early timeout in the second quarter due to a 6-0 Pioneer run; they led the Knights 17-9 behind six points from Sajada Bonner. The timeout from Szumilo jumpstarted the Knights offense and they went on to score eight straight points from Madeline Selvaggi, Chloe Wilson, Dahomée Forgues, and DeAngelo to cut the Pioneers lead down to two points and force them to call a timeout. The two teams proceed to trade buckets for the final 2:30 of the half and the Pioneers took a 25-22 lead into halftime. Ny'Ceara Pryor and DeAngelo led their teams with eight points apiece.

The second half started with the Pioneers dominating the Knights on both halves of the court, Sacred Heart was able to force the Knights into fouls and pickup easy transition buckets; they held a 40-31 lead at the media timeout. The Knights closed the quarter on a 17-6 run fueled by Wilson and Forgues who had seven points each; they led 48-46 going into the final frame of play.

The Pioneers opened the final quarter on an 8-0 to take the lead, but the lead was quickly negated after the Knights went on an 8-0 run themselves. Sierra DeAngelo drilled back-to-back three-pointers to give FDU a 56-54 lead with 5:30 remaining in the game. SHU responded with an 11-2 run to have a seven-point lead with just 2:19 left in the game. The Knights battled back in the final minutes, but they could not get a defensive stop to fully allow themselves a chance back in the game.
 

Up Next

• The Knights will travel to Loretto, Pa. on Thursday to take on the St. Francis Red Flash. Fans will be able to watch the game on the NEC Front Row network at 7 p.m.