HACKENSACK, N.J. - A battle of the top two teams in the Northeast Conference was on deck Thursday night, as the St. Francis Brooklyn women's basketball team traveled to New Jersey to play conference leaders FDU,
The game lived up to expectations but the Terriers (11-8, 7-4 NEC) came up just shy against the Knights (11-8, 10-1 NEC), 55-51. St. Francis remains in second place in the NEC standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Knights jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes of the game, with Madison Stanley accounting for five of FDU's points. Khaleah Edwards scored the Terriers' first points of the night four minutes in with a driving layup, and made the score 8-5 on the next possession with a pull-up three early in the shot clock.
Isabella Posset gave the Terriers their first lead when she drove inside for a layup, the first of three consecutive successful possessions, that made it 21-15 for SFBK with 10 minutes played.
Fruzsina Horvath opened the second quarter draining her second three pointer of the game to make the Terrier lead nine. A few possessions later, Nevena Dimitrijevic made an aggressive move inside to make it 26-17 with 7:37 to play. The junior guard, who came into the game with two straight weekly NEC honors, had seven points and five assists early on.
The Terriers took a double digit lead when Dimitrijevic dished inside to Ally Lassen, who posted up and exploited a mismatch to make it an 11-point game. FDU were on a four minute scoreless run as SFBK's tight defense forced them into low quality looks late in the shot clock.
The Knights offense found some rhythm and hit a 10-0 run to make it a one point game. The Terriers went to the half in front, 30-29.
In the early stages of the second half, Isabella Posset made a great defense play to deny Aniya Bell at the rim and stop the Knights from taking the lead. A technical foul was called on FDU and Dimitrijevic made both free throws with the Terriers keeping the ball. Dimitrijevic then found Posset cutting to the basket for an open layup to make the game 36-31 with 5:33 to play in the quarter.
With the Knights in front, 41-38, in the final minute of the third, FDU's Rachel Niles made a three from the corner to tie the game. Eszter Varga raced up the floor and drained a long three with time expiring to give SFBK the 44-41 lead headed to the fourth.
With 6:24 remaining in regulation, the Knights were within a point as the St. Francis searched for the bottom of the net.
Rachael Niles put FDU in front, 47-46, when she put her offensive rebound back up and in. The guard would finish the night as FDU's leading scorer.
Coming out of a timeout with 3:26 left, Isabella Posset made a short jumper to put an end to FDU's run. Posset tied the game the next time down the floor, but Sierra DeAngelo was prepared with the answer for the Knights at the other end.
With less than a minute to play and trailing by three, a play was drawn up for Dimitrijevic but she could not convert the game tying three. The Terriers were forced to send FDU to the line, putting the game just out of reach.
TEAM LEADERS
Three Terriers players finished the game on 11 points: Nevena Dimitrijevic, Isabella Posset and Ally Lassen.
Dimitrijevic also added eight assists, which was her highest total since Dec. 20 against Monmouth.
Posset shot 5-6 from the field, her most efficient shooting night of the season.
NEXT UP: St. Francis Brooklyn travels to Fairfield, Conn. to play seventh-place Sacred Heart on Saturday, Feb. 5. Tip-off at the William H. Pitt Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and can be streamed on NEC Front Row.
