FARMVILLE, Va. (Nov. 19, 2008) – The Saint Francis women's basketball team came back from an 18-point halftime deficit, but turned the ball over 29 times as they fell to the Longwood Lancers 78-66 on Wednesday night in Farmville, Va.
The Flash, now 0-2 on the season, return home to host Lehigh in their first home game of the season on Saturday at 5 P.M. in DeGol Arena.
SFU scored first on a lay-up by junior center Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills), but the it was Longwood who dominated the first half after the Red Flash had 6 turnovers and 4 fouls in the first five minutes of play.
Longwood jumped out to an early 9-4 lead, but the Red Flash were able to come within one point of the Lancers after freshman forward Kelsey Caruthers (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) sunk four consecutive free throws.
The Lancers entered halftime with three players in the double digits for points leading 44-46 after Kayla Loughner made 3 three-point shots in the last 5:30 of the half.
The Red Flash came out of the locker room ready to erase the 18 point deficit. Sophomore Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) and freshman Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) led the charge, combining for 16 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half.
With a little over 10 minutes left to play, the Lancers lead shrunk to just 5 points when Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) sunk a jumper. The Lancers went ahead by 8 soon after, but Daly shot a three-pointer to bring the Flash within 5 for the second time in the half.
The Flash couldn't quite complete the comeback, however, and turned the ball over three times in the final five minutes, allowing the Lancers to score another two points in the last 15 seconds of the half to end the game at 78-66.
The bench was again a bright spot for the Red Flash as they were able to outscore the Longwood bench 37-29. Johnson came off the bench to score 10 points, finishing in double digits for the second consecutive game. Leach led the team in scoring with 18 points in 22 minutes of play, and went 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
As a team, the Flash shot 77.8 percent from the foul line in the first half and 80 percent in the second to end the day with a free throw percentage of 78.6
Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) had great all-around game, chipping in with 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Daly finished the game with a team-leading 4 steals and also added 8 points.
Caruthers had another fine performance, going 6-for-6 on free throws and chipping in with 8 points.
The Red Flash finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from the floor, with 26 rebounds and 8 assists.
