SYRACUSE, NY – FDU (4-1, 0-0) suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday afternoon against Syracuse (2-2, 0-0). The Knights fell on the road by a score of 77-58. 

Syracuse jumped out to a hot start, beginning a game on a 10-0 run to build a lead they would never give up. Following the hot start, FDU began to come alive and cut into the Orange lead. FDU would outscore Syracuse 16-15 over the remainder of the period. They trailed by just nine following the first quarter, and hung around into halftime, trailing just 40-30 going into the break. The Knights performed well from deep in the first half. They knocked down seven three-pointers to comprise 21 of their 30 first half points. 

The second half saw Syracuse begin to pull away, however. The Orange had a blistering third quarter, outscoring FDU 23-11 in the third. The Knights' shooting went cold in that third frame, converting just 1-of-6 from downtown. On the flip side, the Syracuse offense locked into high gear, converting 67% of their shots from the field in the ten minute period (10-of-15). The shooting display built a 22-point margin in favor of Syracuse heading into the fourth quarter, which was too much for FDU to overcome.

FDU saw an excellent performance out of Ava Renninger in the loss. The freshman and reigning NEC Rookie of the Week scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in her second collegiate start. Renninger was joined by Lilly Parke in double figures, who picked up 14 points.

THE STATS

• The Knights were led in scoring by freshman Ava Renninger for the second time this season. Renninger is averaging 14.6 PPG to lead FDU this season.
• Lilly Parke stayed hot, scoring in double figures for the third straight game. Parke is averaging 16.0 PPG over her last three contests. 
• Abaigeal Babore had a spectacular game in the loss for FDU, scoring five points, and tallying seven rebounds and eight assists. 
  • Babore's eight assist performance was the second-most assist in a single game by an NEC player this season.
• The Knights' ball movement has been incredible this season. FDU assisted on 16 of their 20 makes in the loss to Syracuse.
  • The Knights have assisted on 73 of their 114 made field goals this season (64%).
• This was the first game of the regular season that did not see the Knights crack the 60 point threshold.
• Despite the loss, FDU out-rebounded Syracuse 38 to 35.

WHAT'S NEXT

Knights will now head on the road for another high-major opponent, traveling to face the #2 UConn Huskies on Wednesday, Nov. 20. That game will be broadcasted live on SNY, and tips off at 7:00 p.m. The Knights will then return home to host Saint Peter's on Saturday, Nov. 23; that contest will be broadcast on the YES Network.
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