HACKENSACK, N.J. — Fairleigh Dickinson University rode a balanced scoring attack and a strong rebounding effort to a 66-48 win over the University of Maine women’s basketball team in the FDU Christmas Classic tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Ava Renninger scored 14 points and Teneisia Brown added 13 points and 15 rebounds to power the Knights, who improved to 9-3 on the season. Abaigeal Babore added 11 points for FDU.
Asta Blauenfeldt and Caroline Dotsey each finished in double-figures for the Black Bears, who fell to 4-8 on the season. Blauenfeldt, who stretched her double-digit scoring streak to four, registered a game-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting with three triples while Dotsey added 18 points.
Maine finished the contest 18-of-49 from the field, 6-of-20 from three-point range, with six steals.
The Black Bears lost the rebounding battle 44-25 as the Knights held a 20-2 advantage in second chance points.
Maine jumped out to a 5-1 advantage early but FDU ended the first quarter with a 16-0 run to carry a 17-5 advantage into the second.
The Black Bears rebounded to start the second quarter, putting together a 7-0 run to begin the stanza. Dotsey aided the sprint with five points, sandwiched by a Blauenfeldt layup, to cut the deficit to five.
FDU again responded, this time with a 14-0 run, to push the lead out to 37-20 at the break.
Maine was unable to cut the deficit under 15 points in the second half.
The Black Bears conclude the FDU Christmas Classic when they take on Coppin State on Sunday at 1 p.m.