Lauren Francillon scored a career-high 33 points to lead FDU past Mount St. Mary’s, 66-63, Thursday night on the road in the Northeast Conference regular-season finale.
With the win, the Knights earn the No. 3 seed in the women’s NEC tourney and will host No. 6 Bryant Monday night (7 p.m.) in the quarterfinals. The No. 3 seed is the highest for the Knights since the 1992-93 season when they tied for the regular-season title.
Rachel Niles, a 5-3 sophomore guard from Toronto, added 14 points as FDU improved to 12-17 overall and finished 9-9 in league play.
The Knights, in coach Angelika Szumilo’s first year, play a NEC tourney quarterfinal game in the Rothman Center for the first time since 1997.
Francillon, a 6-2 senior forward from Mountain Lake Park, Md., drained 5 3-pointers and scored 22 in the second half while passing the 700 career-rebound milestone with 10 boards.
“When you talk about a player in the zone, that is what she was tonight,” Szumilo said in a statement. “She was hitting two’s, three’s, fadeaways, pull-up jumpers, and she was totally in the zone today. She was the difference-maker on both ends today.”
Lauren Francillon
