MADISON, N.J. (DECEMBER 5, 2018) - The FDU-Florham women's basketball team fell in their conference opener to DeSales University 67-46, Wednesday night.

FDU drops to 3-4 on the season, 0-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. The Bulldogs improve to 6-2 on the season, 1-0 within the conference.

The Devils started the game on a 6-2 run fueled by seniors Kayla Croswell and Raven Dowling. Croswell had all six points on the run while Dowling had two assists and a steal. However, the Bulldogs answered with an 20-7 run to close out the quarter.

The Bulldogs extended their lead with a 5-2 run in the first minute of the second quarter to push the score to 27-15. The Devils cut the 12-point deficit to three in part of their 11-2 run which they held the Bulldogs to 1-for-9 shooting. During the run Dowling hit two big threes, while Croswell, junior Jennah Roman and junior Cayla Staggers all added points.

With the score 29-26, a quick 4-0 run by the Bulldogs pushed it to 33-26 with two minutes left in the first half. FDU finished the half on a 5-0 run to make it 33-31 at the half. Croswell and Dowling each had 10 points at the half to lead the Devils.

The Bulldogs started the second half on an 8-0 run which lasted over for four minutes in the third quarter. Dowling ended the run with a layup with 5:17 left in the quarter but DeSales responded with four unanswered points of their own to go up 45-33. The Devils would cut the deficit back down to 10 before the end of the quarter at 49-39.
DeSales started the final quarter on a 8-0 to push the lead to 18 at 57-39.

After trading jumpers, Staggers hit two free throws to cut the visitors lead to 16 with 6:27 remaining. However, DeSales would respond with three lay-ups to give them a 22-point lead which proved too much for the Devils to come back from with only 3:44 remaining.
 
  INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Roman recorded her second career blocked shot
• The Devils tied their season high with four blocks in the contest
• The team shot 76.5% from the FT line, their best effort this season

UP NEXT
The Devils will continue conference play at home on Saturday December 8, at 1 p.m. against Misericordia University. Last season the Devils went 3-0 against the Cougars, winning two out of three matchups by double-digits.