LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 17, 2009) – They may have scored the first points of the game, but the Saint Francis women's basketball team couldn't hold the lead as they fell 77-64 to the Delaware Blue Hens in their home opener on Tuesday night in DeGol Arena.

The Red Flash's shooting improved dramatically from the season-opener at Marquette, where they shot just 28 percent from the field.  On Tuesday they shot 46.4 percent in the second half to finish the night with an average of 43.4.   However, they fall to 0-2 on the season.

“Our kids know the expectations for this program have heightened,” said head coach Robinson Fruchtl.  “They know that we had an opportunity tonight and we let it slip away with that run in the second half.   It comes down to eliminating mistakes.”

Sophomore guard Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West), making her second start of the season, made a jumper less than 30 seconds into the game to give the Flash a 2-0 lead over the Blue Hens.   For the second consecutive game, Saint Francis played strong pressure defense in the first half.  It took Delaware almost three minutes to put points on the board, which they finally did when Elena Delle Donne sunk a jumper to tie the score at 2-2.

Delle Donne put up a lay up four minutes later to put the Blue Hens ahead 9-6, then made a three-pointer to put her team up by six.  Junior guard Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) responded with a three-pointer of her own, cutting the deficit to three.

Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) made another three with ten minutes remaining in the first half, but SFU still found itself down by four.  Daly then sunk her second three-pointer of the night, but the Red Flash still could not take the lead as Delle Donner hit a jumper.

Delaware's Jocelyn Bailey made four free-throw shots to put the Blue Hens up 28-21 with less than five minutes to go.  SFU's Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) was then sent to the charity stripe and came away with two before nailing a jumper to keep the Red Flash in the game. 

Free throws by Johnson cut the deficit to seven points, and two more points at line from freshman Shené Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) put the Flash within three.  However, Ariene Jenkins made a lay up to give the Blue Hens a 36-31 lead going into the locker room at half time.  

Senior guard Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) inched closer to her 1,000th career point with a lay up to start the second half.  Delaware's Bailey battled back with a jumper, and a three from Meghan McLean put the Blue Hens up by eight in the early minutes of the second half.   Hodges then added a jumper, a lay up and a free throw and Daly put up a lay up to bring SFU within three of the Hens' lead. 

With 10:23 left to play in the game, the Blue Hens brought their advantage to nine and never looked back.  Daly attempted to put Saint Francis back in the game with her third three-pointer of the night, as did Leach, but Delaware led by 11 with under six to play.

The Blue Hens took their biggest lead of the night on a three-pointer by Tesia Harris, putting them up by 20 points with three minutes remaining in the game.  However, the Red Flash fought to cut into the deficit.  Thorn sunk two shots from beyond the arc in the last three minutes of the game, then stole the ball from Corintha Benison and made a lay up with less than 10 seconds to go.  But it was too little to late, as SFU suffered their second consecutive loss by a score of 77-64.

Leach shot 50 percent from the field to lead the team in scoring with 16 points.  Thorn, with a career high of 12, was also in double figures, as was Daly with 11.   Both Leach and Daly were three-for-three from beyond the arc, and Leach also had a team-high five assists. 

The Flash struggled with rebounding, and were led by senior center Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) and Hodges with four each.   Delaware out-rebounded Saint Francis 35-26. 

In her collegiate debut, former high school stand out Delle Donne led the Blue Hens with 19 points, followed by Bailey with 15.  Each also added seven boards.

“I think our kids had a gutsy performance; they held [Delle Donne] to under 20 points Nobody on their team scored 20 points,” said Robinson Fruchtl.  “When you hold some pretty great players under 20, you're doing a really good job.   They hung tough.  But, we fouled too much.  We need to get smarter. “

The Red Flash turned the ball over 22 times as opposed to Delaware's 20 turnovers.  SFU also totaled seven steals, with Hodges and Daly each grabbing two. 

Saint Francis shot out shot Delaware from beyond the arc, making 53.3 percent of their three-point attempts.  They were 10-of-13 from the line for a total 76.9 percent. 

SFU will travel to Bethlehem on Friday for a match up with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks of the Patriot League.  Tip off is set for 7 p.m.