BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (Dec. 1, 2009) – Senior Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio / Mt. de Chantal) scored a season-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as the Saint Francis women's basketball team dropped a hard fought 77-72 contest at MAC power Bowling Green on Tuesday night at Anderson Arena.
The Red Flash held the nation's No. 1 three-point shooting team to just four made shots from outside the arc, but the Falcons hit all four of them in the second half and made 27-of-36 attempts from the free throw line in holding on for the win. SFU has had two close calls in the last week against teams expected to compete for conference championships this year. The Red Flash dropped a five-point decision at No. 20 Pittsburgh last Tuesday, and dropped another five-point decision tonight against a Bowling Green team that has won five consecutive MAC regular season championships.
Saint Francis will be back in action at 2 p.m. on Sunday when Mount St. Mary's comes to town for the team's Northeast Conference opener, at DeGol Arena.
SFU trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, but was able to pull within three points, 75-72, with 24.4 seconds remaining. The Red Flash were on a 5-0 run after Hodges hit a 3-pointer, and Leach forced a turnover and was fouled. She made both free throws to pull Saint Francis within a 3-pointer of tying the game.
However, Lauren Prochaska made two free throws with 13.0 seconds left to ice the game and complete the scoring, 77-72. Prochaska finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. She made 7-of-11 from the field, and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe.
Hodges fell one point shy of tying her career high of 29 points with a 9-of-21 shooting performance. She made 5-of-9 from outside the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Junior Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio / Miami Trace) scored nine of her 11 points in the second half and added two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa. / Trinity) contributed eight points, two assists, two steals and one block, and sophomore Kelsey Caruthers (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) (Conestoga, Pa. / Penn Manor) added seven points and four rebounds.
Both teams shot better than 45.0 percent from the field in the first half, but struggled in the second half. The Falcons controlled the boards with 48 rebounds, while SFU pulled down 30. BGSU (4-2) made more free throws (27) than Saint Francis made field goals (25).
The Red Flash did a great job on the Falcons' 3-point shooters in the first half, holding them to an 0-for-3 half. They also forced Bowling Green into 13 first half turnovers. However, the Falcons shot 53.6 percent from the field, made 15-of-19 free throw attempts, and held a 25-8 advantage in rebounds after taking a 45-37 lead into the break.
Hodges had a game-high 11 points at halftime, while Prochaska and Tracy Pontius had 10 points each for the Falcons.
Saint Francis cut that lead to three, 47-44, on a pair of Hodges free throws with 17:14 remaining in the game, but BGSU answered with a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 54-44 with 15:21 left.
Senior Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) ( Verona, Pa. / Penn Hills) cut the lead to six, 57-51, with a traditional 3-point play with 11:07 remaining. But Bowling Green would hold SFU without a point over the next 4 minutes, 12 seconds, and without a field goal for 6:18 in going on a 9-4 run that made it an 11-point lead, 66-55, with under five minutes to go.
Trailing 69-60, Hodges made a layup and Leach, after a BGSU turnover, hit a jumper to pull SFU within five points, 69-64, with 2:39 to play. Bowling Green's long range shot came alive with Pontius nailing a 3-pointer to make it an eight point contest. Hodges answered with a 3-pointer to cut it to 72-67 with 1:20 left, but Prochaska hit another Falcon 3-pointer to make it 75-67 with 1:01 remaining.
In addition to her 28 points, Hodges had five rebounds, four assists and one block. She brought her career total to 1,033 points, moving her into 17th on the school's all-time scoring list. She passed Michele Rehm, who scored 1,015 points during her career from 1989-93. Hodges is one point shy of Beth Banabei's 1,034 career points, which is 16th place on the school's scoring list.
