SCRANTON, Pa. (December 15, 2017) - The FDU women's basketball team was tripped up by No. 17 Messiah 82-72 Friday.

The loss dropped the Devils to 4-4, while Messiah improved to 9-0. FDU will face Hartwick in the third place game tomorrow at 2 p.m. while Messiah faces Scranton at 4 p.m. in the championship game.

The Falcons led wire-to-wire, but the Devils defense limited their ranked opponent to just two field goals over the final 4:54 of the first quarter. A layup by sophomore Cayla Staggers cut the lead down to two early in the second, but FDU could get no closer in the period. A Falcon bucket with six ticks left in the second quarter pushed the halftime lead to 12 points.

FDU was limited to just 35% shooting over the first 20 minutes as Messiah shot 56% from the field.

A 6-0 spurt midway through the third cut the gap down to six, as sophomore Kendrea Williams contributed four points during the run. Messiah would close the quarter out on a 6-1 rally,  holding the Devils to one free throw over the final three minutes. The Devils were unable to mount a comeback in the fourth, pulling as close as eight in the waning moments.

Williams and classmate Gabrielle Harris each had 20 points, with Harris going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Junior Bria Smith had 18 points and seven boards in the setback.