FDU Concludes Florida Trip With 62-52 Loss to Florida A&M

MIAMI, Florida  -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team concluded the FIU Sun & Fun Classic on Sunday with a 62-52 loss to Florida A&M from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the victory, the Lady Rattlers improve to 7-8 on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-10 overall.

The first half was a sloppy affair that saw the two sides combine for 18 turnovers, 34 free throws and poor shooting percentages from the field. FAMU would lead the entire game.

With FDU trailing 14-11 after a pair of free throws from freshman Valerie Oyakhilome at the 10:54 mark, the Lady Rattlers would outscore the Knights by nine the rest of the first half to go into the break leading 34-22.

FDU converted on only 17 percent (4-of-23) of its shots but converted 14-of-21 from the charity stripe. FAMU shot 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) and outscored the Knights by 12 from three-point range.

The second half appeared to be much of the same in the opening minutes, with each team only scoring two points by the first media timeout. After that, the offenses awoke, as FDU outscored the Lady Rattlers 30-28 over the course of the second half, which included a 10-0 run beginning at the 5:38 mark.

Juniors Amanda Andrades and Tiffany Grant hit back-to-back threes, followed by a senior Desiree Crawford's layup during the run. Ultimately, FAMU would hold on to and extend its lead back to double digits until the final whistle.

Desiree Crawford had a monster game for the Knights despite battling an illness, finishing with a career-high 19 points to go along with a season-high 12 rebounds and two blocks, while converting 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Andrades finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and a block while playing the entire 40 minutes.

FDU shot much better from the field in the second half (40 percent) and finished the contest shooting 30.2 percent (16-of-53) overall from the field. The Knights outscored FAMU 24-10 in the paint and 13-4 on second-chance points due to their 14 offensive rebounds.

"We played a very good second half, outscoring them, did a great job on the boards, outrebounding them (44-38) against what I think is a good rebounding team," Head Coach Peter Cinella said. "Desiree Crawford had a very good all-around game. Anastasia Williams did a good job on the boards as well, and Amanda Andredes had a good all-around effort in the second half."

The Lady Rattlers' star performer, graduate student Jasmine Grice, finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

After the final game, Desiree Crawford was named to the All-

Coach Cinella on Crawford: "Desiree showed a lot of toughness this weekend and great leadership. She responded with a career game and a double-double effort today against Florida A&M. Her All-Tournament selection is well deserved."

FDU will return to action Saturday, Jan. 4 when it starts Northeast Conference play at Bryant, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

Box Score 
Tournament team. The senior averaged 12 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks on 8-17 shooting over the two games.

COURTESY FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS