SOUTH BEND, IND. – FDU women's basketball (0-2, 0-0) dropped a road contest to Notre Dame (1-0, 0-0) on Wednesday night by a score of 98-52.
Notre Dame immediately jumped out to a red-hot start. The Fighting Irish opened the game on a 9-0 run over the first two and a half minutes.
Ava Renninger started the offense for the Knights to try and get them into the game. Renninger scored the Knights' first seven points, but could not provide enough to keep up with the Notre Dame attack. The first quarter came to a close with the Knights trailing 27-13.
FDU's offense stalled to begin the second quarter. After a Madlena Gerke jumper with 1:33 left in the first, the Knights did not record a bucket again until the three minute mark of the second quarter. When halftime came around, Notre Dame held a 50-20 lead.
The Knights gained some offensive momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points to Notre Dame's 21 in the frame. Joi Johnson came alive for FDU in the fourth, scoring six points in the final three minutes en route to a career-high ten points. Johnson combined with Renninger (15 points) to make up about half of the Knights' offense in the loss. The Notre Dame offense simply proved to be operating on all cylinders, en route to the 98-52 final. Two-time All-American Hannah Hidalgo led the way for the Fighting Irish with 27 points.
- Ava Renninger led the scoring for FDU, pouring in 15 points on an efficient 7-13 shooting night.
- Renninger turned in four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in addition to her scoring.
- Sophomore forward Joi Johnson played a great role off the bench for the Knights, scoring a career-high ten points.
- Johnson's ten points came in just 13 minutes of game action, on 5-10 shooting.
- The Ewing, N.J. native blocked two shots and grabbed four rebounds, three of them coming on the offensive end.
- Freshman Leah Crosby protected the rim well, blocking four shots.
- Crosby picked up a steal on the defensive end as well.
- In addition to her defensive efforts, Crosby scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.
- The freshman earned her second straight start in the frontcourt for the Knights.
- The turnover margin hurt the Knights in the loss, losing the battle 19-8.
- Notre Dame scored 32 points off of Knight turnovers.
- Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 41-25.
The Knights return home to Hackensack to face Bloomfield on Monday, November 10. Tip-off will come at 7 p.m. with coverage available on NEC Front Row. The Knights will honor their 2025 NEC Championship at the game, hoisting a banner and receiving their rings in a pre-game ceremony.
Connect with FDU Women's Basketball on X and Instagram, @FDUKnightsWBB.
Segovia Steakhouse is the presenting sponsor of the 2025-26 FDU women's basketball season.
