HACKENSACK, N.J. – FDU Women's Basketball began the 2024-25 regular season Monday night with a 79-57 home victory over Dominican. The Knights were led by graduate student
Teneisia Brown, who dropped 22 points and nine rebounds on an efficient 10/12 shooting night from the field.
The Knights took command from the start, leading the Chargers 23-15 after the first quarter. The Knights were led by freshman
Ava Renninger in the first, highlighted by an outstanding steal and score by the rookie. Renninger intercepted a Dominican pass, and then converted a four-point play on the other end for her first collegiate points. In just 18 minutes, Renninger would wind up with 20 points on 6/8 shooting from the field in her first regular season action. The freshman also picked up five rebounds, two assists, and a steal, to go along with a perfect 3/3 shooting night from deep.
Renninger formed a dynamic point-guard platoon with starter
Staci Williams. Williams logged 19 minutes, and tallied nine points on 2/3 shooting from deep to go with a team-leading four assists. The Renninger/Williams dynamic will be one to monitor in the season going forward for the Knights, and looks to be a very scary point guard duo for opponents.
Coach Gaitley gave lots of run to the rest of her starters early in the game, with Brown,
Abaigeal Babore,
Abby Conklin, and
Lilly Parke each tallying over 22 minutes. Babore logged an impressive night on the stat sheet, with seven points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block.
FDU's backcourt had a tough matchup on the other end in the form of Cayla Howard. Howard had a game-high 27 points to go with six rebounds for the Chargers. The Knights' defense was able to hold together across the rest of the court however, only allowing one other Dominican player in Angelina DiMarsico to reach double figures.
The Knights used a dominant second quarter to give themselves a cushion heading into halftime. FDU outscored Dominican 22-11 in the second frame, and took a 45-26 lead into the halftime break. The second half saw head coach
Stephanie Gaitley head to her bench more frequently, with several freshmen logging minutes in the final stages.
Kailee McDonald saw herself have an excellent collegiate debut, tallying nine points and four rebounds in just 14 minutes of action. Freshman
Joi Johnson also logged her first collegiate points on a tough layup through contact to help the Knights pad their lead late. Johnson finished with three rebounds as well.
With the win, Coach Gaitley picked up her 699th victory as a collegiate head coach. Her next victory will make her just the 29th coach in the women's game to reach the 700 win plateau.
THE STATS
- FDU locked in from beyond the arc late, shooting an efficient 40% from deep across the second half to help secure the win.
- Teneisia Brown's 22 points led the Knights, as did her efficient 83.3% shooting performance from the field.
- Ava Renninger erupted for 20 points in the Knights' exhibition matchup on October 25th, and recorded the same total in her first regular season action as a Knight.
- Renninger's three makes from downtown led the way for FDU.
- Three freshmen, Renninger, Kailee McDonald, and Tyler Edwards, logged at least ten minutes in their collegiate debut.
- The Knights dominated the rebounding margin, out-pacing Dominican 49 to 38 on the glass.
- Ball movement was key for FDU's offense, with 18 of the Knights' 29 makes being assisted on.
- FDU had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio as a team with 18 assists to just 13 turnovers.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Knights will turn their attention to American University to potentially pick up Coach Gaitley's historic victory. FDU will head on the road to face off against the Eagles on Friday, November 8th at 12 p.m. That game will be available to stream on ESPN+
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Instagram, @FDUKnightsWBB.
Segovia Steakhouse is the presenting sponsor of the 2024-25 FDU Women's Basketball season.
