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LOWELL, Mass. – Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) drilled the go-ahead three-pointer with 34.5 seconds on the clock, and Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) swatted the game-tying shot, as the UMass Lowell (1-8) women's basketball team knocked off the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (2-7), 61-55, on Monday night.

"I'm just so proud of these young women," remarked Head Coach Jenerrie Harris. "They've worked really hard over the last couple of days and the last week or so. It was a tough game there at the end and I thought we had some players make some great plays. Kayla was remarkable and Kat had a bunch of big points off the bench. They played tough down the stretch and I'm really happy for them.
 
Coming off a defensive stop and forcing a shot clock violation to open the fourth, the River Hawks clawed within 44-41 with a Markayla Sherman (Cincinnati, Ohio) three-pointer. The Knights opened up a 47-41 buffer with 8:37 left in regulation, but Katherine Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind.) scored seven straight points, and Gibbs added a layup to put the hosts on top, 50-49, with five minutes on the clock.
 
Smith added her eight point of the quarter to give the River Hawks a 52-51 lead with just over four minutes remaining, before the Knights went up 55-54 two minutes later. With the win, UMass Lowell moves to 3-0 all-time against FDU.
 
Gibbs, Hendrick and Smith all finished with double-digits, led by Gibbs' 14 while Hendrick and Smith scored 10 apiece. Fairleigh Dickinson was led by Brianna Thomas' and Kiana Brown's 19 and 14 points, respectively. 
 
Hendrick led off the game with a three-pointer 11 seconds into the first, but the Knights responded with a 9-0 run until Gibbs cut the deficit to 9-5 with 6:44 on the clock. The junior accounted for the six straight UMass Lowell points to get within 13-9 with over four minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) went on a 5-0 run over a span of 40 seconds in the second period to pull the River Hawks within 20-16 with 6:26 until halftime. Lauren Parra (Islip, N.Y.) notched her first points of the season to make it a 20-18 game, and Hendrick added her second triple to give the River Hawks their first lead of the contest at 21-20. Following a 6-0 run by the visitors, UMass Lowell closed the half with a 6-2 run to head into the half trailing, 28-27.
 
To open the second half, Tyshay Britten (Norristown, Pa.)connected on her first field goal of the night to push the River Hawks in front, and behind five consecutive points from Hayner, UMass Lowell had a 34-33 buffer with 7:36 on the clock.
 
FDU's Thomas netted a pair of baskets and Zeynep Akgun drilled a corner three to push the Knights up 40-34 heading into the media timeout final media timeout. With her spurt, Thomas became the game's first player to reach double figures.
 
The River Hawks look for their second consecutive win, as they travel to Worcester to take on Holy Cross on December 10 at 1 p.m.