MADISON, N.J. (December 7, 2010) - The Rangers overcame an 12 point second-half deficit to defeat cross-street rival Fairleigh Dickinson, 49-46 this evening in the Ferguson Rec Center. Danielle Barber (Cape May Court House, N.J./Middle Twp.) hit five threes in the second half alone, finishing with a career-high 27 points.

With Drew (5-1) trailing by 11 points three minutes into the second half the Ranger defense came alive to force nine Devil turnovers, paving the way to their third win away from Baldwin Gym this season. In a nearly a five minute span around the midway point of the second half the Rangers surrendered only one Farleigh Dickinson (6-2) basket, helping Drew chip away at the double digit lead.

Down by eight with 10 minutes to play, Barber hit her third three to pull the Rangers within five. After missing her next attempt, Jess Reid (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) came up with one of her team-high 11 rebounds, kicked it right back out to Barber who nailed another three to pull the Rangers within two.

The two teams would trade baskets and after converting a three-point play the Devils were back up five with a little over six minutes remaining. Barber would once again get the Rangers back into the game this time back to the first tie since the opening minutes. She converted two free throws with five minutes to play and then hit her fourth three of the half to tie the game at 39 with four and half minutes to play.

FDU would get another layup to go up two but Barber wasn't finished. After hitting a one of two free throws at the 3:21 mark she would come down on the ensuing possession to hit her final three of the evening to give the Rangers the lead for good. Sophomore Jen Mateo (Union City, N.J./Union City) played a crucial role down the stretch for Head Coach Brittany Gaetano's squad.

With the Rangers up two and the shot clock about to expire, Mateo dribbled off the right wing and banked a running jumper to put the Rangers up four with 1:25 left to play. Mateo was then fouled and knocked down a free throw to put the Rangers up five. A rebound by Reid off a missed Devil three pointer with nine seconds remaining sealed the Rangers' second-straight win over their cross-street rivals.

Mateo eclipsed her career-high of eight points, set in the previous two games, finishing with nine points and four steals.  Barber is playing some of the best basketball of her career as she has scored over 20 points in the last four games. Reid and fellow classmate Victoria Ault (Middletown, N.J./Mater Dei) owned the glass in final 20 minutes pulling down 13 of the 25 second-half rebounds.

The 49 points was the least amount of points that Drew has needed to pull out a victory since a 40-39 win over Gordon College back in the 1999-2000 season.

Women's Basketball becomes the fifth team this season to defeat rival Fairleigh Dickinson. Women's Soccer defeated them twice as the Rangers now have a commanding 7-0 record against the Devils.

The Rangers will hit the road this Saturday to take on Baptist Bible in Clarks Summit, Pa. Tipoff is set for 2:00 PM.