MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University women's basketball team cut a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit down to four, but FDU-Florham pulled away late to hand the Rangers a 76-69 setback in a battle of cross-town rivals Saturday afternoon at FDU.
 
The Rangers (3-5) trailed by 11 heading into the fourth quarter and were down 65-53 with 6:24 left before embarking on an 8-0 run that was capped by a pair of free throws from senior forward Jamie Struble with 3:22 remaining. Sophomore guard Maddie Beyer connected on a pull-up jumper to make it 69-64 with 1:29 left, but the Devils answered with a 6-0 run down the stretch.
 
Struble led Drew with 18 points, nine rebounds, and four steals while Beyer finished with a career-high 14 points and four steals. Freshman guard Amy Rachilla scored a season-high 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and sophomore guard Maddy Morgan tossed in 10 points. Sophomore forward Gianna Pica contributed eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
Neysa Aguilar paced the Devils with 29 points.
 
The Rangers jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead over the opening two and a half minutes, with Struble scoring five points along the way. But FDU closed out the period on an 11-4 run to assume a 20-15 lead.
 
The Devils continued to pull away in the second quarter and extended their lead to 12 with 3:33 on the clock. However, Drew climbed back into it with an 9-2 run that made it a five-point game (36-31) following a jumper from Struble with 12 seconds left. But Aguilar went 3-for-3 at the foul line with one second on the clock to give the hosts a 39-31 lead at the break.
 
In the third quarter, the Rangers again pulled to within five, this time on a jumper from Beyer with 7:57 on the clock. But FDU used a 6-0 run midway through the quarter to push its lead back into double digits, and the Devils led 59-48 heading into the final quarter.
 
Struble sparked Drew's late rally, coming up with a steal that led to a fast-break opportunity and a put-back from Rachilla that made it 65-55 with 5:40 left.
 
The Rangers would turn up the pressure on the defensive end, where there got four straight stops while FDU missed a pair of free throws on another possession. Offensively, Rachilla and Struble each nailed a jumper before Struble hit her two foul shots that made it 65-61, completing Drew's 8-0 run.
 
The Devils broke a 3:11 scoring drought with a layup at the 3:13 mark. Freshman guard Miabella Diaz hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 67-62 game before Beyer's late jumper again pulled the Rangers within five. But FDU would score on its last six possessions despite shooting just 5-for-10 at the foul line over the stretch.
 
Drew returns to action on Tuesday and Wednesday, when it competes in a pair of games at the St. Pete Classic at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. Drew takes on Rhodes College on Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Russell Sage College on Wednesday at 11 a.m.