MADISON, N.J. (January 23, 2019) - The FDU-Florham women's basketball team never trailed as three players scored in double figures en route to a 62-57 triumph over Manhattanville Wednesday evening.

FDU improves to 7-11, 2-5 within the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. The Valiants drop to 13-4, 4-3 in the MAC Freedom. The victory snapped the Devils three game losing skid.

Senior Kayla Croswell opened the scoring for the Devils with a layup which sparked an 13-0 run for the Devils to start the game. During the run, junior Jennah Roman led the Devils with seven points while fellow junior Cayla Staggers added four points. After a thirty second timeout by the Valiants, Manhattanville went on an 13-0 run to tie the game at 13. Senior Raven Dowling received the pass from Croswell with 12 seconds left in the quarter and drilled the three to give the Devils the 16-13 lead after one quarter.

The Devils started the second quarter on a 7-0 run, hitting four out of five shots, before Manhattanville called their second timeout of the game with 8:19 remaining in the quarter. The Devils would add three more points before the Valiants would net their first point on a free throw to make it 26-14. Despite a small 3-1 run by the Valiants, the Devils extended their lead to 34-19 after a three by Roman with 2:47 left in the quarter. Manhattanville closed out the half on an 8-4 run to make it 38-27 heading into half.

Both teams began the second half shooting 0-4 from the field, not scoring their first points until the third minute of the quarter. Both teams traded baskets before the Valiants rattled off a 9-3 run over the next two minutes to make it 43-28 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. The Devils lead was cut to one at 45-44 after Manhattanville made back-to-back baseline jumpers. After a steal by Roman, Croswell was able to finish the fast-break to make it a 47-44 game with 2:33 left in the quarter. The Devils extended their lead to five with a layup by Dowling within the final ten seconds of the third quarter.

The Devils lead was cut to one at 53-52 with 5:00 remaining in the final quarter. Both teams were unable to score until Roman hit a free throw with 2:44 left in regulation to push the Devil lead to two. On the very next possession Manhattanville made both of their free throws to tie the game at 54 with 2:30 left to play. After empty possessions by both teams, FDU was able to reclaim the lead after sophomore Madisyn Rosato hit her first free throw. Rosato missed her second but an offensive rebound and a foul put junior Breion Knox to the line for two. She also went 1-for-2 from the line to give the Devils a 56-54 lead.

The Valiants hit one free throw to make it a one-point game but the Devils came down and pushed the lead to three on a Croswell jumper. An empty possession by Manhattanville led to free throw attempts for Dowling, who calmly sunk two to stretch the Devils lead to 60-55 with 40 ticks left. FDU established the final margin courtesy of late free throws from Roman.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• With her eight steals tonight, Dowling not only ties her career high but moves to second all-time in program history with 276. The senior added 15 points and five rebounds.
• The Devils held the Conference best scoring offense to only 27 points in the first half, the fewest they've scored all season. 57 total points was the second fewest score by Manhattanville this season.
• FDU matched a season-best with 17 steals, tying the mark set against New Jersey City University on November 17.
• Croswell now has double-digit points in 16 out of 18 games this season, tallying 16.
• Roman poured in 18 points, her fourth double-digit effort in the last five games.

UP NEXT
The Devils will continue MAC Freedom play on Saturday January 26, at 1:00 p.m. against Misericordia University.