Madison, NJ (November 14) FDU-Florham Women's Basketball team downed St. Elizabeth, 68-59 to win their first game of the season.

FDU-Florham (1-2, 0-0 MAC Freedom) were led in the scoring by Kolby Lynch (Morristown, NJ). She was closely followed by Julia Vazquez (Bound Brook, NJ), and Christina Centeno (Bayonne, NJ), who scored 15 and 14 points respectively. Shannon Tighe (Wayne, NJ) earned her second double-double of the season.
 
St. Elizabeth's (1-2, 0-0 United East) best player on the night was Ashley Phillip, who scored 17 points for the Eagles.

The first quarter started off hot for the Devils, as they went on a 13-4 run to start the match with points from Lynch, Tighe, Vazquez, and Centeno. The Eagles clawed back to make it to a one-possession game before Amaya Fifield (Cambridge, M.A.) buried a three to take the lead up to 16-10. Vazquez hit a free throw before the quarter ended, with an FDU 17-10 lead.

St. Elizabeth stormed back in the second quarter going on a 16-8 run to eventually take the lead with 1:43 left in the first. That unlocked a scoring barrage from both teams to end the half. First, Lynch hit a jumper to take the lead back. After a three-pointer from the Eagles made their sideline erupt, Tighe hit a three to take the lead right back, causing the building to erupt. The first half ended with the Devils maintaining a narrow 30-29 lead.

FDU carried the momentum given to them from the Tighe three-pointer in the second quarter. After a three-pointer from Vazquez, the scoring was dominated by FDU. The Devils pushed from a one-point deficit to a 11-point lead which was created by a Gabrielle Walker (Old Bridge, NJ) hit a three-pointer. FDU pushed this lead all the way up to 19 on a made free throw by Vazquez. A St. Elizabeth jumper ended the quarter, and FDU held a commanding 56-39 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

St. Elizabeth stormed back in the fourth quarter, chipping away at FDU's lead throughout the entire quarter. Three three-pointers in the last two minutes turned the Devil's 19-point lead into a one-possession game. However, Lynch hit back-to-back shots, the second one with a free throw, to push the Devil's advantage to eight, and after traded free throws by both teams, the game ended as a 68-59 win for FDU.

FDU-Florham shot 47.3% (26-55) from the floor, 35.7% (5-14) from three-point range, and 61.1%  (11-18) from the free throw line, while St. Elizabeth shot 25.3% (20-for-79) from the floor, 28.1% (9-32) from three-point range and 55.6% (10-for-18) from the free throw line.

St. Elizabeth scored more points off turnovers (24-11), second chance points (24-6), bench points (9-3) and points on the fastbreak (6-4). FDU scored more points from the paint (36-14). Both teams had equal number of shots to tie the game (1-1) and to take the lead (4-4).

The Devils will travel to Newark on November 15^th to take part in the John K. Adams Tip Off Classic. They will play Rutgers-Newark at 8:00 PM.

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