Teneisia Brown scores 34 points, Fairleigh Dickinson women go wire-to-wire in Northeast Conference
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — Teneisia Brown scored a career-high 34 points and Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Stonehill 66-49 on Sunday to win the Northeast Conference Tournament.
Fairleigh Dickinson completed the sixth wire-to-wire run in women’s NEC history. The Knights went 16-0 in the NEC regular season and added three wins to claim the tournament championship. They are going to the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Sunday’s game was unusual in that both teams already knew what postseason tournament they would play in. The Skyhawks, still in their Division I transition period, were eligible for the conference championship but not the NCAA Tournament. When FDU and Stonehill won their semifinals it meant that Fairleigh Dickinson would get the NEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. At the same time, the WNIT announced that Stonehill would be invited to that tournament.
Fairleigh Dickinson, and more specifically Brown, dominated the first half, building a 35-21 lead. She had 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6 for 6 on free throws.
The Skyhawks got within 42-37 late in the third quarter but Brown was fouled twice in the final six seconds and her four free throws gave the Knights a 46-37 lead. She outscored the Skyhawks 8-2 in a key stretch of the fourth quarter, giving FDU a 62-47 advantage with two minutes remaining.
Brown, a 14.4 points per game scorer, had 23 and 28 points in FDU’s previous games in the tournament.
Ava Renninger had 10 points for the Knights (29-3). Brown finished 11 for 19 from the field and 12 for 12 at the line.
Kylie Swider had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Skyhawks (17-15). Sharn Hayward and Brooke Paquette scored 12 points each. ___
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