PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Nov.24, 2009) – Senior guard Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) scored her 1000th career point but the Saint Francis women's basketball team fell in a close battle with No. 20 Pittsburgh 75-70 at the Peterson Events Center on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

The Red Flash found themselves down by three with just 28 seconds left in the game.  Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West)'s (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) hit the rim but didn't go in, and SFU fell short of the big upset.

“We certainly don't take any moral victories -- that's not our style," said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. "But our kids did play very hard and battled and showed mental toughness."

SFU came out strong from the start, and took a 5-2 lead on a three-pointer from junior guard Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity).   The Panthers and the Flash tied the game up a total of four times in the first five minutes of action before Pitt went on a 17-3 scoring run to take a 14 point advantage on a jumper from Taneisha Harrison with seven minutes left until half time.

Freshman Kelley Doogan (Claymont, Del./Ursuline Academy) (Claymont, Del./Ursuline Academy) put up a three-pointer to end the scoring run, but the Panthers put up two more lay ups and took a 16 points lead with five minutes to play in the half.

Daly scored seven points in the remaining five minutes as Doogan sunk another three to cut the deficit to nine as the Flash headed to the locker room.

The Panthers took control of the second half early on and brought their lead back up to 14 on a free-throw shot by Jania Sims.  Just four minutes into the half, Hodges sunk a three-point shot to score her 1000th career point just four games into the season.    Not only was the bucket a career milestone for Hodges, but the start of a 12-1 scoring streak for the Red Flash.  The nine remaining points came from junior guard Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace).

SFY found themselves down by just five with 13 minutes left to play, but gave up crucial buckets to Harrison and Chelsea Cole and were soon down by 12 with eight and a half minutes to go.   Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) sunk three and Leach added another three and a lay up to put bring Saint Francis within seven with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

Leach put up a layup and sunk two free-throws as the Red Flash found themselves within three points of a major upset with a little more than a minute left.  Pitt's Shayla Scott made a jumper, but SFU struck back when two free-throws from Daly to put the Flash with 24 seconds to play.  The Panthers' Harrison was fouled with eight seconds left, and she took two points at the line to put the game away and give Pitt the 75-70 victory.

The Red Flash made major improvements in their game, and forced the Panthers to turn the ball over 19 times and took 26 points off of those turnovers.   They also put up 20 second chance points, and turned the ball over just 15 times themselves.

Leach led the team with 20 points, while Hodges had 16 and Daly rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points.  Doogan had eight points, while Thorn led the team with five assists.

Saint Francis out rebounded Pitt 42-41, with Leach grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

The Red Flash went 25-68 for a total of 36.8 percent from the field.  They were also 10-26 from beyond the arc and 10-20 at the free-throw line.

After Thanksgiving, Saint Francis will face another test as they travel Bowling Green on December 1 in search of their first win of the season.