BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Jan. 24, 2009) – Sophomore guard Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) scored a career-high 30 points and the defense held the Terriers to a field goal percentage of just 18.2 in the second half as the Saint Francis women's basketball team cruised past the Terriers of St. Francis College 66-54 in a televised game on Saturday afternoon at the Pope Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Daly became the first Red Flash player in four years to hit the 30-point mark in a game. Beth Swink scored 32 points against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 2, 2005.
Two free-throw shots by Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) started the scoring off for the Red Flash, who jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead with 15:45 left to play in the first half.
The tides soon changed, as Terrier Kara Ayers tied the game at 15-15 on a free-throw with 11:27 remaining. SFC built upon their small lead, and soon had a 13-point advantage with just over five minutes left in the first.
Daly worked hard to keep the Red Flash in the game, scoring on two jumpers and a three-pointer. Leach's own three-pointer put the score at 32-31, but SFC's Vianca Tejada put up a three-point shot with 22 seconds left to give the Terriers a 4-point lead going into the locker room.
SFU come out red-hot in the second half, demolishing the Terrier's slight advantage in just two and a half minutes. The Flash's stellar defense limited SFC to only a three-point field goal by Tejada and five free-throws for the first 13 minutes of the half.
The Red Flash had few problems getting past the Terrier defense, with Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) coming off the bench to put up 7 points in the second half alone. SFU found themselves with a 57-43 lead with 6:22 left to play, and were able to stretch that to a 63-47 advantage when Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park). Daly put up one more three-pointer, ending the game at 66-54.
Saint Francis shot 61.1 percent from the field in the first half, but fell to 43.8 percent in the second to end the game at 50 percent. They were also 46.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 50 percent at the line.
Daly led both scoring and rebounds with 30 points and 7 boards. Fellow sophomore Leach was also in the double-digits for the Red Flash, with 15 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds. Junior center Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) had the team's only 2 blocks and also chipped in with 7 points.
The Red Flash out-rebounded the Terriers 41-28. They had 25 defensive boards in the game.
The Terriers, who went 4-of-22 from the field in the second half, were led in scoring by Ayers with 19 points. Tejada had 8 points, and Kendra Williams added 8 rebounds.
Saint Francis will travel to New Jersey for a conference match up with Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday at 7 p.m. in Teaneck, New Jersey.
