WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Jan. 21, 2010) – The Saint Francis women's basketball team couldn't get revenge, despite 25 points from Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace), as they fell to the Monmouth Hawks in overtime 77-74 at the Multipurpose Activity Center in West Long Branch, N.J., on Thursday afternoon. The loss is SFU's second to the Hawks in just eight days.
The two teams traded buckets to start, with Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West), Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) and Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) each putting up two for Saint Francis and Alexis Canady and Alysha Womack drilling threes for the Hawks. Leach nailed a three of her own with 18:07 left to play to cut the Monmouth lead to just four points.
Erin Rooney notched a jumper for the Hawks before Carly Thibault hit another three to extend Monmouth's lead 18-9. After Thibault sunk the ensuing free-throw, Leach hit her second three-pointer of the night to cut the deficit to just seven. After Womack hit two free-throws, the Red Flash went on a 12-2 scoring run, highlighted by a layup from Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) and a three-pointer from Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal), to take a slim advantage with 3:10 remaining.
Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) was sent to the charity stripe and came away with two, then made a layup a minute later to put SFU up 30-25. Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) also put up two points in the paint, and the favor was returned by Rooney for the Hawks as the Red Flash took a 32-27 lead at halftime.
Killian hit two free-throws to start the scoring off in the second half for the Red Flash, and was countered by Singer who also went perfect at the line. Womack then hit a three-point shot from the corner before Johnson struck back with two as the Red Flash kept a one-point lead.
Hodges put up a jumper as did Womack, before Leach added to keep SFU up 40-37. Daly chipped in with two more before Thibault drilled a three. Lilley added a layup to keep the Red Flash ahead by one as Womack sunk another from beyond the arc. Daly sunk a three-pointer of her own, as did Canady to put Monmouth ahead 46-44.
The Hawks went on a 7-2 scoring run that ended when Leach was sent to the free-throw line and again came away perfect, cutting the SFU deficit to just two. Abby Martin put up two for the Hawks, and was countered by two from Hodges to keep the game close. Fleming added in a layup, with Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) hitting a free-throw before Leach added a jumper to put SFU ahead 58-57.
Adrianna Allen put up a jumper, and then sent a pass over to Womack who also put up two. Smith was sent to the line for SFU, coming away with one. Hodges sent a pass over to Leach, who threw it in for two t o tie the game at 61-61 with a little over two minutes to go. Singer went to the line for the Hawks to break the tie, but Hodges put up a layup to tie the game up yet again. Womack and Lilley then traded jumpers to end regulation at 65-all, sending it into overtime.
Killian won the tip for the Red Flash, but it was the Hawks who would strike first on a three-pointer by Womack. Rooney added in another two before Johnson made a layup to finally put the Red Flash in the board in the extra period. Womack added in two more before Daly put up two in the paint.
Rooney went to the charity stripe and made two, but Leach added in two of her own as the Flash trailed 74-72. Allen took a point from the line before Johnson was sent to the stripe for SFU and got two. Rooney added two more at the line, and the Red Flash came up short, taking the 77-74 loss.
Leach, who was just one point shy of tying her career high of 26 points, also had six rebounds and an assist. Hodges and Daly each ended the night with 12, with Daly adding in eight rebounds and Hodges seven assists. Johnson came close to a double-double, putting up nine points and eight rebounds.
Hodges had the team's lone block of the day.
Womack led the Hawks, also with 25. Canady had 14, and Rooney ended the night with 12.
The Red Flash went an impressive 28-of-64 from the field for 43.8 percent, compared to the Hawks 38.8 percent. SFU was also 36.4 percent on three-point shots and was 82.4 percent at the free-throw line.
Saint Francis took a huge win in the rebounding battle, grabbing 48 boards to the Hawks 32. However, the Red Flash lost the turnover battle for the third game in a row, 22-9.
Falling to 4-3 in the conference and 7-10 overall, the Red Flash will travel to Teaneck to take on Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday evening. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m.
