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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - You only need five players to play a college basketball game. Playing with just six is cutting your margin of error close, but on Tuesday night six was more than enough for the Saints. Dressing just six players, Siena Women's Basketball dug deep and defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 72-63 at the ARC as the surging Saints enter the New Year riding a four-game winning streak after finishing with their best non-conference record in two decades.

Playing without the team's heart and soul Tehresa Coles who was forced to sit out with a left ankle injury, the Siena (7-4) six picked up their fallen senior captain with arguably the squad's best collective performance of the season. All six players each scored nine or more points and grabbed four or more rebounds in propelling the Saints to the program's best start 11-game start in a dozen years.

The Saints rallied together and picked apart Fairleigh Dickinson's (3-7) defense with exceptional passing. Five of Siena's six players recorded three assists or more and the Saints' finished with 23 assists on 25 made field goals. It tied for the program's most assists in nearly nine years, since recording 27 in a 79-44 win over Niagara on Jan. 26, 2006.

Playing shorthanded, the Saints went to a zone defense early which Fairleigh Dickinson was never quite able to solve. Despite a slow start on the offensive end, the Saints picked up the pace late in the opening stanza as Siena shot 52.2% in the opening half en route to a 29-22 lead at the break.

Siena twice would open up 12-point second half leads, the second of which came with just 4:06 left, but the Knights would not go away. Kelsey Cruz scored 18 of her game-high 27 points in the second half including back-to-back threes to rally FDU within 62-57 with 2:08 to play.

But Siena got the stops it needed late and went 8-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to end the 2014 calendar year on a high note and secure the program's longest winning streak since capturing six in a row from Dec. 30, 2010 - Jan. 14, 2011.

Fresh off a career-high 27-point performance Sunday, senior guard and reigning MAAC Player of the Week Ida Krogh led the Saints with 18 points. After hitting 13-16 from the free throw line in Sunday's win over Colgate, Krogh went a perfect 11-11 from the charity stripe against the Knights while adding six rebounds and five assists.

Siena placed four in double figures as sophomore captain Meghan Donohue added 14 points and junior forward Symone Kelly and reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week Margot Hetzke contributed 11 points apiece for the Saints which defeated Fairleigh Dickinson for the third straight year and sixth time in a row.

Erika Livermore added 19 points and 10 rebounds for FDU which is in the midst of a grueling seven-game road trip.

With the win Siena finishes non-conference play with a 7-2 record, matching the program's most regular season non-conference wins since the 1994-95 season. The Saints' .779 non-conference winning percentage marks the program's best since the 1993-94 campaign.

Riding a wave of momentum into 2015, the Saints will be tested right off the bat in the New Year. Nine-time defending MAAC Champion Marist visits the ARC Friday night for the resumption of conference play at 7 p.m. The game will be televised throughout New York on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.