With the loss, the Devils dropped to 1-7.
William Paterson jumped out to a 9-2 lead thanks to five points from senior forward Meghan Ludgate (Palermo, NJ/Ocean City) and four points from senior forward Melissa Moore (East Orange, NJ/North Bergen). The Pioneers took a 24-14 lead with 5:10 left to play in the first half but FDU closed the half on an 11-6 run to cut the deficit to 30-25 at halftime. Sophomore guard Emily Cerankowski (Easton, PA/Notre Dame) had five points while freshman center Shannon Smith (Verona, NJ/Verona) added four points.
The Devils came out hot in the second half, opening with a 10-0 run to take a 35-30 lead with 14:36 left in the game. The Pioneers tied the game at 42-42 with 10:45 remaining on a jumper by Ludgate. After some back-and-forth action, FDU opened up a four point lead, 54-50, on a free throw by Cerankowski with 3:07 left to play. William Paterson tied the score again, 56-56, with 1:15 remaining on three pointer from junior guard Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, NJ/Bishop Ahr). The Devils got the lead back, 58-56, on a jumper by Cerankowski with 1:00 to play and the score stayed the same until Brown’s heroics with 0:06 left. The Pioneers added a free throw to make the final score 60-58.
Brown tied for a game-high nine rebounds with senior guard Luci Custis (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark), who also chipped in 11 points for the Pioneers. Moore finished with 16 points and eight rebounds while Pellichero had 13 points.
Cerankowski led the way for FDU, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds. Smith and freshman forward Danielle Michlovsky (Wind Gap, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) each had 10 points and four rebounds.
The Devils return to action on Wednesday, January 3, 2007, at home against Cedar Crest beginning at 6 pm.