Box Score
Brooklyn, N.Y. – Senior Kiara Evans became the all-time career assists leader in LIU Brooklyn history against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday, but the Blackbirds saw a three-point halftime lead slip away in a 71-65 setback to the Knights in Northeast Conference women's basketball action at the Wellness Center.
Evans dished out six assists and has amassed 382 for her career, surpassing the previous mark of 380 held by LIU Hall of Fame inductee Tamika Dudley (1999-03). Senior Ashley Palmer had a team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds and classmate Marika Sprow scored a career-best 17 points as LIU falls to 13-5 and 2-4 in NEC play.
The Blackbirds led by as many as 11 points in the opening half, after back-to-back buckets by junior Tamika Guz put the score at 33-22 with 6:57 in the stanza. To that point, LIU had connected on four of its first six three-point attempts and had forced the Knights into five turnovers.
Fairleigh Dickinson responded with a 13-5 run, as Mariyah Laury closed the period with a jumper with two seconds left to pull the Knights to within three, 38-35. Laury went 6-for-7 from the field in the first half and had 14 points to lead all scorers.
Laury continued her offensive assault to begin the second half, scoring seven of her team's first nine points, and her layup at the 16:47 mark gave FDU a 44-42 lead. A pair of foul shots from Palmer tied the game at 44-all, and a three-pointer from Marika Sprow regained a three-point cushion for the Blackbirds at 47-44 with 15:25 to go.
A three-pointer from Stephanie Isaacs pushed the pendulum back in the Knights' favor at 50-49 with 12:50 left, before Sprow drained another three-ball on the next possession to put LIU back on top at 52-50 with 12:23 remaining. After a timeout on the floor, Palmer converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to give LIU its largest lead of the half at 55-50 with 11:45 on the clock.
The back-and-forth battle that saw nine lead changes in the second half would continue for the balance of the period. A jumper from Laury at the 6:22 mark closed out a 7-1 spurt and gave Fairleigh Dickinson a one-point cushion at 57-56.
Senior She'tiarra Pledger converted a layup off a feed from junior Ebony Davis to put LIU ahead by one, before a free throw from Danielle Pankey knotted the contest at 58-58 with 5:58 left.
Pledger went to the line and also hit one to give the Blackbirds back the lead, but Pankey was fouled a minute later and converted both of her chances to put the score at 60-59 in favor of FDU.
The two teams traded buckets on the next two trips down court, before Fairleigh Dickinson took a two-possession lead on a three-point play from Desiree Crawford. Crawford converted on the third shot of a wild sequence for the Knights, who hustled for a pair of offensive boards on the trip.
With FDU's lead at 65-61 with 2:42 to play, Sprow made a running banker in the lane to pull LIU within two with 2:16 left. Both teams had empty trips offensively before Erika Livermore hit two free throws with 1:06 on the clock to put the score at 67-63.
An offensive putback by Davis brought the Blackbirds to within two points again at 67-65 with 40 seconds left, but Crawford hit a back-breaking jumper with the shot clock running to put FDU up two possessions with 19 seconds to go.
After a missed three-point attempt from LIU Brooklyn, Livermore converted two more at the charity stripe to provide the final margin for the visitors.
Laury closed with 25 points for the Knights, who improved to 9-9 overall and 4-2 in the NEC with the win. Livermore had 16 points while Pankey added 15 for FDU.
The Blackbirds are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 21 when they take on Mount St. Mary's at the Wellness Center at 2:00 p.m.