TAMPA, Fla. (December 31, 2009) – Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) had the team's first double-double of the season and three more players finished in double figures, but the Saint Francis women's basketball team fell to the Big East's University of South Florida 86-74 on Thursday in a New Year's Eve matinee at the USF Dome in Tampa, Fla.
The Red Flash end their southern swing 2-1, and will enter the conference season on Monday with a tilt against Wagner College. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at DeGol Arena in Loretto.
The Bulls got off to a 6-0 run to start the game before their lead was cut in half by a three-pointer from Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) less than two minutes in. Another triple from Lilley tied the game at 10-10, and SFU took their first lead of the game on yet another three from Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt).
A layup from Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) put the Flash up by five with 11:47 left to play. Gibbs sunk a jumper to increase the advantage to seven soon after. However, the Bulls came storming back to shrink the deficit to two with a jumper from Jessica Lawson. Lilly and Gibbs combined for three more points before Lilley traded threes with Janae Stokes to bring the lead back up to five.
Jasmine Wynne put USF up by one, but was countered by Leach with another layup. Gibbs nailed two at the charity stripe to put the Flash ahead again with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Gibbs sunk another free-throw before Leach was sent to the line and came away with two to take a four-point advantage with 3:50 left before halftime.
A triple from Stokes put the Bulls within one, and a layup from Lawson tied the game up with a minute and a half to go. South Florida's Dominque English was sent to the line and came away with two to end the half with the Bulls leading 41-38.
USF started the second half on a 9-2 run that put SFU into a ten point deficit with 17:28 left to play. Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) and Fleming each put up two to end the Bulls' run, but Wynne came back with a jumper to put the lead into the double-digits once again. Hodges and Lilley each sunk threes before Gibbs went to the line to cut the advantage to just six.
Hodges made another three, shrinking the deficit to five with half of the second half already in the books. A jumper from Lilley put the Red Flash within three, but USF put up five points to put themselves ahead by eight. Hodges hit the free-throw line for two, as did Lilley, but Melissa Dalembert put up four points to bring the Bulls' lead to 73-62 with six and a half to go.
Hodges made her third three of the half, but it wasn't enough to pull SFU within single digits. Wynne nailed a layup/free throw combo as the Bulls pulled ahead by 15. Leach went to the line for two and Gibbs for one to put the deficit at 12. Gibbs then threw up a last second layup, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Red Flash fell to the Bulls by a final score of 86-74.
Lilley led the charge with 18 points and 10 rebounds, marking the team's first double-double of the season. Gibbs shattered her career high by ten points, finishing the night tied for second in scoring with 16 total points, four rebounds and two steals. Leach also put up 16 points and two steals going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Hodges quietly added in 15, nine of which came from threes. SFU shot 40.4 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent at the line.
Saint Francis also scored 27 points off of the Bulls' 18 turnovers, will giving the ball up just 17 times. The Red Flash bench accounted for 43 of the 74 points.
South Florida finished the day with five players in double-digits, three of which had double-doubles. Lawson led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but it was Dalembert who led the rebounding with 13 boards and 12 points. Wynne notched 12 assists to go with her 12 points, and Stokes and Sequoyah Griffin ended the game with 15 and ten points, respectively.
