Monday, January 21, 2002

BOXSCORE

Quinnipiac Squeaks By Fairleigh Dickinson, 74-72
Kay Odenwaelder scores 17 points, grabs seven rebounds

Hamden, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson (9-7, 4-3 NEC) women’s basketball team trailed for the entire game against the Quinnipiac Braves (8-9, 5-4 NEC) but overcame a 15-point second half deficit to knot  the game at 72 with 24 seconds left.  The last minute efforts were not enough as the Braves sank two free throws with a fraction of a second left to lift them to a 74-72 victory over the visiting Knights.

The Knights suffered from their own poor shooting in the first five minutes to dig themselves a nine-point deficit, 15-6.  The team managed to overcome their shooting but went into halftime still down, 36-28.

Down by 15 points with 16:57 to go in the second half, 45-30, the Knights used an 10-0 run to get within five points, 40-45, at the 14:21 mark.  The Braves increased their lead back to double-digits when the Knights went on a 7-0 run to get within three, only to have Quinnipiac edge away again.

The Braves were up 67-56 with 4:49 to go in the game when the Knights made their spirited 11th hour run--a 9-0 streak--that got them to 65-67 with 2:43 remaining.  The teams battled for the next minute and a half before the Knights got layups from Kyle Schmitz (Herndon, VA) and Jen Kozlowski (Linwood, PA) to tie the game at 72-72 with :24 on the clock.  It was the Braves' possession and running down the clock, Ashlee Kelly got off a shot but missed and in the struggle for the rebound the Knights were called for a foul, sending Charmaine Steele to the line with just 0.2 seconds left.  She sank them both and handed FDU their second straight loss.

Kay Odenwaelder (Goshen, Conn.) led the team in rebounding for the eighth time this season with seven boards, also adding a team-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 from the line.  Kozlowski finished with 15 points, three assists and two steals while Natallia Marchanka (Rechitsa, Belarus) scored 10 for the Knights and just missed a double-double with eight assists.  She added four rebounds and three steals.

The Braves were led by Ahslee Kelly's 27 points and nine rebounds.  Sara Esidore scored 14 points and also added nine rebounds.

The Knights return to the Rothman Center for a four-game home stand starting with a game vs. UMBC on Thursday, January 24th at 7:00pm.  The NEC's first women's basketball doubleheader televised on Cablevision follows on Saturday, January 26th with the Knights taking on Mt. St. Mary's at 6pm and UMBC vs. LIU at 8:15pm.  Check your local listings for more information.

 

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