MADISON,  N.J. -- The FDU-Florham women's basketball team hosted the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights on Friday in a season-opening exhibition match and took a hard-fought 85-77 loss to the Metropolitan Campus team.

The defending champions battled and cut a 19-point lead down to two late in the second half but the Knights regrouped and held on for the victory.

FDU received a dominant performance from junior center Erika Livermore, who dropped 34 points, while grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking six shots to lead all players.

For FDU-Florham, junior forward Shalette Brown (Somerset,N.J.) picked up right where she left off last season by notching a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. 

The newest member of the Devils starting five, junior guard Alicia Cox (Vineland, N.J.) dazzled in her debut with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists. 

FDU-Florham's tenacious defense forced the Knights into 26 turnovers in the contest, however, FDU used their size advantage to outrebound the Devils 61 to 41 on the night.

After trailing 44-35 at the break, aided by a raucous home crowd, the Devils outscored the Knights 42-41 in the second half.

With 3:45 to go in regulation, Kara Dayon (Trenton, N.J.) drained a three-pointer, which cut the Knights lead to just two points at 73-71. However, FDU scored the game's next seven points to build their lead back to nine and held off the Devils for the victory.

In the loss, four Devils tallied double-figure scoring efforts led by Cox's 24 points. Kyra Dayon (Trenton, N.J.) posted 14 points and seven rebounds, while sister Kara Dayon added 13 points and eight rebounds to go along with three treys on the night.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham's season officially kicks off next Saturday, November 15th when they visit Galloway, N.J. for the Stockton College Tip-off Tournament.