MADISON, NJ - Sophomore forward Kyra Dayon notched 28 points and 11 rebounds to earn Tournament MVP honors while freshman center Rachel Groom added 22 points and six rebounds to lead the top-seeded College at Florham Devils to a 76-64 victory over second-seeded King's in the Championship Game of the Freedom Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The win sends FDU to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

With the win, the Devils improved to 24-3 while the Monarchs dropped to 21-6.

FDU never trailed in the game and started the contest with an 18-6 run over the first 8:23. Groom had 10 points for the Devils in the opening spurt. King's cut their deficit to 23-17 with 6:42 left in the half but the Devils built their lead right back up to 11, 30-19, with 5:20 remaining. The Monarchs once again pulled to within six, 33-27, but FDU responded again and got the lead back up to 11, 38-27, with 1:27 to play. King's scored the final bucket of the half though, to make it 38-29 in favor of FDU heading into halftime.

The Devils came out on fire to start the second half and really put the game out of reach with an 18-7 run to grab a 56-38 advantage with 12:08 left in the game. Dayon tallied six points in the run for FDU. The Devils kept their lead in the teens and had a 62-50 edge with 5:22 to go. That's when Dayon really took over the game and cemented her status as Freedom Conference Player of the Year by scoring eight of FDU's last 14 points to help the Devils seal the win and their first trip to the Big Dance. FDU also played outstanding defense in the game, holding the Monarchs to just 37.5% shooting while forcing 17 turnovers.

Sophomore guard Kara Dayon put in nine points off the bench for FDU while junior guard Jalessa Lewis finished with eight points and seven assists.

King's was led by 18 points apiece from senior forward Lindsay Atchison and senior guard Celia Rader while also getting 11 points and 11 assists from senior guard Katlin Michaels.

The Devils will return to action next week in the NCAA Tournament at a time and location to be announced. The NCAA Selection Show will be on Monday, February 25, 2013, beginning at 2:30 pm on NCAA.com.