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Fort Worth, TX – FDU women's basketball's (29-4) historic season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. The #15 Knights fell to second-seeded and Big 12 Champion TCU by a 73-51 final.
The outsized Knights put forth a valiant effort led by graduate forward and NEC Defensive Player of the Year Teneisia Brown. The NEC Tournament MVP connected on two of her first three field goal attempts to give FDU an early 4-1 lead. The Horned Frogs climbed ahead 8-6 before the media timeout, but on the first possession out of the break, Lilly Parke drilled a three put the Knights in front with a 9-8 edge. That Parke three ignited an explosive 11-4 FDU run that included points from four different players that made it a 17-14 advantage after the first quarter
TCU quickly regained the lead in the second quarter, but Ava Renninger punched back with a layup to put FDU ahead 21-19. The second quarter remained tight until a cold spell haulted the Knights' momentum. With the Horned Frogs leading, 26-25, the home team pushed ahead by a 35-27 count at halftime after holding FDU to just two points over the final 5:24 of the half.
The Horned Frogs pulled away in the second half, but the Knights trailed by just 12 midway through the third quarter and remained within 15 at the end of the period.
Brown put the finishing touches on a stellar season with 18 points in her first-ever Big Dance appearance. Renninger, the NEC Rookie of the Year, netted 12 points in her NCAA Tournament debut.
Despite playing in a raucous road environment, the Knights were extremely poised. They committed 11 turnovers throughout the game, while the home team committed 15.
Winners of both the NEC regular season crown and the NEC Tournament title, FDU closed out the season as the winningest team in program history. The 29 overall wins were also the second-most by an NEC team in conference history. The Knights entered the tilt riding a 22-game win streak, which at the time, was the third longest in the nation.