FDU WBB advances to NEC Tournament Semifinals

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Basketball, College

March 8, 2023

The FDU WBB Knights (23-6, 14-2 NEC) cruised to a 74-48 win over the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (7-22, 3-13 NEC) at the Stratis Arena Inside The Rothman Center in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Sierra DeAngelo poured in a game-high 23 points, 15 of them in the second half, while Chloe Wilson supplied 18 points and Dahomee Forgues added 12 points.

"I told the team to take it one day at a time and celebrate this win because it may be easy but it's not easy," FDU head coach Angelika Szumilo explained. "They're a great group of young women that work extremely hard on the court and in the classroom. They were coming straight from shoot around or classes today."

"We're going to watch film and get ready for whoever we're playing on Thursday and hope to get another opportunity on Sunday but we have to get through Thursday and think we're in the right headspace."

FDU struggled scoring out of the gates in the first quarter against Central Connecticut State. Despite the Knights shooting a paltry 26 percent, Sierra DeAngelo (4 points) and Dahomee Forgues (5 points) combined to score nine points.

In the second quarter, FDU's offensive output improved significantly as the Knights shot the ball effectively and drove into the paint for lay-ups. FDU consistently drove into the lane, leading to free-throw line trips.

The Knights hit six shots from the charity stripe line as they went into halftime up 27-20. DeAngelo and Wilson each tallied eight points apiece.

"At halftime before Coach Ang (Angelika Szumilo) came into the locker room, we talked as a team what we can do better offensively and defensively and we addressed that and tried to focus on our inside and outside game," DeAngelo described. "We looked for that open player and found each other well."

Once the third quarter commenced, FDU wasted no time widening their advantage to double digits with a 9-2 spurt within the first three minutes of action. The Knights shot a sizzling 66 percent in the period.

"I thought in the first half we were just passing once or twice and taking some tough shots and should have kicked it out and moved the ball a little bit better," Szumilo noted. "In the second half we brought some specific sets to get that type of movement and our team adjusted and we were willing to share the ball."

"We talked about making the defensive adjustments and when we got the defensive rebounds to push the ball. I thought their transition defense was one of the weaker points in general. When you get multiple stops in a row and obviously score that's how we built the lead and did a good job."

FDU held a one-sided edge in points in the paint at 30-8 while receiving quality production off the bench with 13 points. Once the quarter ended, the Knights were up 53-35.

FDU shot the ball effectively at a blistering 63 percent and a perfect six for six from the free-throw as they coasted to the victory. With a massive edge in points in the paint at 42-16, the Knights ended up with 20 bench points.

"The nice thing about our team this year, if teams are willing to let us go inside we have the two best post players (Sierra DeAngelo and Chloe Wilson) in the conference and they do a great job of feeding off each other," Szumilo stated. "Sierra and Chloe do a great job of feeding off each other and are so unselfish. That's what opens our outside shooters because of the success we have on the inside. When you get 20 points from the bench it's a good day and that's what Ella (Fajardo) does for us and takes the pressure off the starters."

FDU WBB Returns to Court for Semifinals

FDU returns to action in the Northeast Conference Tournament, squaring off against No. 4 seed, St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers on Thursday, March 9 at the Stratis Arena Inside The Rothman Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m. St. Francis defeated 5th seed Wagner 58-51 in the quarterfinals.