MADISON, N.J. (February 2, 2019) - Senior Kayla Croswell and junior Cayla Staggers notched double-doubles off the bench as the FDU-Florham women's basketball team was defeated 71-63 by King's College Saturday afternoon.

FDU falls to 7-14, 2-8 within the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom, while King's moves to 12-9, 6-4 within the MAC Freedom.

The Devils began the game on a 6-0 run in part to threes by junior Jennah Roman and sophomore Madisyn Rosato; however the Monarchs responded with a 7-0 run of their own. The next 10 points for the Devils came at the hand of Croswell, including a mid-range jumper to give the Devils a 16-9 lead. Kings College was able to finish the quarter on a 6-3 run to make it a 19-15 game in favor of the Devils after one.

FDU-Florham started the second quarter on a 10-0 run which lasted over three minutes before a three by King's shifted momentum. Before the three, the Devils were leading 29-14, but the deep ball sparked a 9-0 run for the Monarchs to make it a 29-24 game with 3:52 left in the quarter. The teams continued to trade baskets and free throws for the rest of the period, heading into the half with the score 33-30 in favor of the home team.

The Devils pushed their lead in the third quarter to seven at 41-34 but after scoring eight points in the first two minutes of the quarter, the Devils were only able to score two more points in the frame. The Monarchs ended the third quarter up 52-43. Opening the fourth, the senior duo of Raven Dowling and Croswell combined for four straight tallies to chip the lead down to 57-51 with 7:33 remaining.

Staggers made the game a one-possession game, as she hit a jumper in the paint to shrink the gap to three. The visitors extended the lead back to nine with three minutes left; however the Devils continued to show fight and Staggers knocked down a fastbreak jumper to cut the lead to 67-63 with just 31 seconds left in the game. FDU was unable to get any closer, as the visiting Monarchs converted four free throws down the stretch to establish the final margin.
  
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Croswell's 18 points in the first half was the most scored by a Devil in a half this season.​​​​​​ The senior set a new career high with 29 points. With her 12 steals, Croswell notched her fourth double-double of the season.
• The Devils matched a season-high with 17 thefts, tying the previous best which was set on two other occasions this season.
• Staggers finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.
• Junior Imani Collins pulled six rebounds, including four offensive boards.

 
UP NEXT
The Devils will continue MAC Freedom play on Wednesday February 6, at 6:00 p.m. against Eastern University. FDU-Florham beat Eastern 86-77 on January 8.