LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 26, 2008) – Not to be outdone, the Saint Francis University women's basketball team capped off a victory-filled day for Red Flash athletics, defeating Central Connecticut State, 64-59, on Saturday night in Loretto. The women (6-13; 3-5 Northeast) joined the men's basketball team and the men's volleyball team for a combined sweep of visitors to DeGol Arena on the day.
Saint Francis cruised through the contest's first half, building leads as large as nine and 11 points, thanks in large part to senior Emily Bollinger (Westminster, Md./Westminster)'s (Westminster, Md./Westminster) career-high-tying 16 points in the period. The Red Flash entered the locker room with a 34-26 advantage.
“I thought we played a pretty good first half. We did some nice things offensively against their zone,” said Flash coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “Defensively, our press gave them a lot of problems. That's one of the [higher numbers] of turnovers we've forced this season in one game.”
The Blue Devils came out hot in the second stanza, scoring the half's first 11 points to grab their first advantage of the game. A jumper by Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) at the 15:58 mark stopped the bleeding, but a subsequent, 5-1, CCSU run pushed the visitors' lead to four.
“We have to get rid of these stretches where we come out flat,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “We came out flat after halftime, but we weathered their run. We didn't get down by too much, then we went on a run of our own.”
“We've got to play both ends of the floor and we've got to play 40 minutes. That's still going to be a theme for our team - 40 minutes, until we get it right.”
Saint Francis traded baskets with the Blue Devils for the game's next 13 minutes - with neither team building a lead of more than three - before a hook shot by sophomore Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) with 41 seconds left put the Flash ahead for good.
Junior Shawna Scott (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill?Academy) (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) converted on four free throw attempts and grabbed a steal to seal the win and set the final score.
Bollinger ended up with a game-high 18 points on the day, with sophomore Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal Academy) (14 points) and junior Whitney Robinson (Fairmont, W.Va./Fairmont) (Fairmont, W.Va./Fairmont) (12 points) rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Flash.
P.J. Wade paced the Blue Devils with 16 points, while pulling down a game-high 10 boards for her third double-double of the season.
Saint Francis shot 46.2 percent from the floor, their second-best performance on the year, while holding CCSU to 39.6 percent. The Blue Devils shot 52.1 percent from the floor in their Jan. 14, 72-64, win over the Flash.
Central's 23 turnovers were the second most by an SFU opponent on the season.
The Red Flash return to action on Monday when they host St. Francis College.
