HACKENSACK, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Mount St. Mary's 63-58 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Kayla Grossett (Toronto, Cananda/David and Mary Thompson C.I.) paced the Mount (6-8, 2-1 NEC) with a career-high 17 points. Sydney Henderson (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) added 12 points in the loss.

Mariyah Laury fueled the Knights (6-9, 1-2 NEC) with 21 points while Erika Livermore added 15 points and Danielle Pankey chipped in 11 points in the winning effort.

In mirror halves, Mount St. Mary's had the lead late in the stanza only to see Fairleigh Dickinson go on a run to close each half and come away with the victory. It was the third-straight win for the Knights at the Rothman Center against the Mountaineers.

After Grossett gave the Mount a 50-49 on a four-point play at 3:33, Fairleigh Dickinson closed the game on a 14-8 run to hand Mount St. Mary's its first conference loss of the year.

Trailing by one, Pankey nailed a 3-pointer at 3:06 to give the Knights the lead for good at 52-50. Selina Mann (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) then hit 1 of 2 at the free throw line with 2:50 left to make it a one-point game before Livermore hit a jumper 20 seconds later to increase the lead to 54-51. Laury then hit 1 of 2 with 1:49 left to increase the lead to four points.

Grossett scored in the lane with 64 seconds left to trim the margin to two points at 55-53, but Laury converted 4 of 4 at the line to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 59-53 lead with 34 seconds left. Mann answered with two free throws 10 seconds later, but Laury responded with two at the line with 17 ticks left to maintain a six-point margin. Henderson drilled a trey with 13 seconds left to make it a one-possession game, but Amanda Andrades nailed two free throws with 10 ticks remaining to seal the victory.

Mount St. Mary's jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. After Pankey nailed a jumper to get the scoring started 21 seconds into the game, the Mountaineers rolled off the next nine points. Ashley Christie (Miamisburg, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) hit a 3-pointer at 19:26 before Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) drained a jumper at 18:37. Tara Lonergan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and Henderson capped the run with layups at 17:25 and 16:05, respectively, for a seven-point lead.

Fueled by five points by Desiree Crawford, Fairleigh Dickinson scored 12 of the next 18 points to make it a one-point game midway through the first half.

The Mountaineers then went on a 13-6 spurt to claim a 28-20 lead with 4:05 on the clock. Grossett sparked the surge with eight points, but the Knights rolled off the final nine points of the stanza for a 29-28 lead.

The Knights scored the final nine points of the half in the final four minutes of the stanza to take a 29-28 lead going into the locker room.

With the Mount holding a 28-20 lead after a Grossett 3-pointer with 4:05 on the clock, Fairleigh Dickinson went on a 9-0 run to take its second lead of the afternoon.

Crawford started the run by making the backend of two free throws at 3:42. Pankey then hit a jumper at 2:21 before Livermore converted two free throws at 1:54 and Esther Wallace scored in the lane at 1:03 to trim the margin to 28-27. Livermore then nailed two charity tosses with 41 seconds left to give the Knights a 29-28 edge at the break.

Fairleigh Dickinson continued the momentum in the second half to increase the lead to six points with 16:48 left after taking a 39-33 advantage.

Mount St. Mary's then began to whittle the deficit down. With the Knights clinging to a 49-46 lead, Grossett nailed a 3-pointer and was fouled on the play. The sophomore tied the game on the trey with 5:47 left and gave the Mount the lead on the free throw for the final time.

Mann finished the game with seven points, seven steals, five assists and four rebounds. Christie added nine points and Lonergan chipped in seven points in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Monday at Monmouth. Game time is  7 p.m.