Anthony Covino photo

FDU 5-9 senior guard Madelynn Comly from Littlestown, Pa., scored 14 points in the Knights’ loss to Saint Francis Saturday.

By ANTHONY COVINO
Sports Writer

A below-average season continues for the FDU women’s basketball team with a 77-65 Northeast Conference loss against Saint Francis University on Saturday at the Rothman Center.

The Knights shot 25-66 (37.9 percent) from the field and 12-32 (37.5 percent) from behind the 3-point line. The Knights fall to 6-17 with a 3-9 record in the NEC. Saint Francis extended its winning streak to six games and improved to 12-12 with a 9-3 record in the NEC. Saint Francis is now tied for second in the conference.

“You see why Saint Francis is one of the best teams in the league,” FDU head coach Peter Cinella said. “ I thought we battled very well, we had a tough stretch where we weren’t able to get the shots to fall, we couldn’t get good shots. We had probably one of our best passing games with 18 assists. We also had our best three-point shooting game by hitting 12 three-pointers,  shooting 38 percent from three. The most threes we had all year. It’s just tough when they take 22 free throws to your five. We outplayed them in almost every area but we got beat badly from the foul line. That was really the difference.”

Sophomore Forward Madison Stanley led the Knights with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Senior guard Madelynn Comly added 14 points. Freshman Lindsey Mack had 12 points on four 3’s. She shot 4-8 from the field.

Saint Francis was led by Senior Guard Jess Kovatch with 19 points. Senior forward/center Courtney Zezza had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Sophomore guard/forward Haley Thomas added 10 points and 9 rebounds.

The Knights were able to keep the game close in the first half. They were down 36-33 at halftime and were playing well. In the second half, the Knights continued to make their shots as they ended the third quarter with a 50-49 lead. FDU led 54-52 with 7:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. Saint Francis went on a 14-0 run and led 66-54 with 3:17 left in the game. The Knights were unable to come back and that resulted in their fourth straight loss.

The Knights will look to snap their losing streak when they travel to play Bryant on Monday, Feb. 18.