HACKENSACK, N.J. – FDU claimed its first Northeast Conference championship since 1992 with a convincing 66-49 win over Stonehill in the NEC Tournament championship game Sunday afternoon at the Bogota Savings Bank Center.
The title is FDU's third NEC championship and makes the Knights a perfect 17-0 at home this season, just the sixth time in NEC history that a team has gone unbeaten at home in the regular season and conference tournament. The Knights have won 22 straight games, including nine consecutive victories by 10 points or more.
FDU (29-3) jumped on Stonehill early, scoring the game's first 12 points and leading by as many as 14 points, at 16-2 following a
Teneisia Brown layup with 4:08 to go in the opening quarter. Stonehill started to chip away at the Knights' lead, but FDU still led 20-12 after the first quarter. The Skyhawks got to within five points, at 24-19, early in the second quarter, but the Knights flexed their muscles and went on an 11-2 run over the final 7:10 of the half to take a 35-21 lead into the break.
Brown led FDU with 20 points and three rebounds in the first half and the Knights held Stonehill (17-15) to just 31 percent shooting (9-for-29) from the field. FDU also forced the Skyhawks into committing 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Stonehill made a rally in the third quarter, getting as close as four points and outscoring FDU 16-11 in the period, but the Knights still led 46-37 going into the final 10 minutes. FDU never let Stonehill any closer than eight points in the fourth quarter and outscored the Skyhawks 20-12 in the final period to pull away and win the championship.
THE STATS
- The NEC title is FDU head coach
Stephanie Gaitley's first in 11 total seasons and is her fourth conference championship at four different schools, having previously won titles at St. Joseph's, Richmond, and Fordham.
- With the win, Gaitley also passed Harry Perretta for sole possession of 15th place on the all-time victories list. In a bit of irony, Perretta was Gaitley's coach at Villanova.
- Brown led FDU with a career-high 34 points and eight rebounds. She went 11-for-19 from the field and made all 12 of her free throw attempts as FDU finished the game 17-for-18 (94.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
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Ava Renninger also had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists,
Lilly Parke chipped in nine points and seven rebounds for FDU.
- FDU went 23-for-55 (41.8 percent) from the field overall, including 3-for-21 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range, meaning the Knights made 20 of their 34 (58.8 percent) of their 2-point shots in the win.
- The Knights limited Stonehill to just 36.8 percent shooting overall (21-of-57) and held the Skyhawks to only 20 percent (4-for-20) from 3-point range. FDU also forced Stonehill to commit 17 turnovers that led to 17 points for the Knights. FDU also outscored Stonehill, 32-24, in the paint.
WHAT'S NEXT
FDU now awaits to find out their opponent in their first-ever NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. The Selection Show will air at 8 p.m. ET Sunday night on ESPN. Fans are encouraged to join the team at the Bogota Savings Bank Center to watch the Selection Show. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Connect with FDU Women's Basketball on X and Instagram, @FDUKnightsWBB.
Segovia Steakhouse is the presenting sponsor of the 2024-25 FDU Women's Basketball season.
