WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Senior forward Shalette Brown, of the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham women's basketball team (12-5, 4-2 MAC Freedom), became the school's all-time leading rebounder after she reeled in 19 boards in the 78-62 win over the Wilkes University Colonels (3-14, 0-6 MAC Freedom) in a MAC Freedom showdown on Friday night.
Brown now holds the record with 879 career rebounds in a Devils' uniform and will have plenty of chances to expand that total in the team's final eight regular season games. Behind her record setting night, Brown was also able to pour in 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting for her second consecutive double-double.
The Devils also got a great offensive outing from juniors Alyssa McDonough who notched a team-high 18 points and six assists and Rachel Groom, who added 16 points and seven rebounds.
FDU-Florham jumped out to an early lead in the opening quarter after a couple of quality runs. The first came right at the start of play as the Devils grabbed an 8-0 advantage before expanding the lead to 11 after an impressive 13-2 run. The Devils were able to do all of this by effectively utilizing the three-point shot.
Freshman guard Fernanda Reyes knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, while McDonough and Danielle Leguillou each buried one as well.
The Devils' 15-point lead entering the second quarter quickly began to disappear as the Colonels found a groove and went on a 7-0 run. As the game went on, the senior guard for Wilkes, Cara Basile, started to hit a bevy of shots and she scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter alone.
To counter Basile's performance, the Devils turned to Brown, who was able to muscle her way to the basket and bring in a bevy of boards. By the end of the first half, she had already tallied a double-double.
As the half was coming to a close and the Devils' lead was cut to five, McDonough dished the ball over to Dowling and she made a three-point shot right before the buzzer sounded.
In the third quarter, McDonough began to take over and she scored nine of the Devils' 16 points in the stanza.
The Devils entered the final quarter of play with a comfortable 14-point lead and they managed to ward off any attack by the Colonels by going inside and down low to Brown and Groom to find easy buckets.
This win marks the fourth in the last five games for the Devils and their next match will be on Wednesday, January 27 at 6 p.m. at the Ferguson Recreation Center.
