LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 4, 2010) – The new year did not start off well for the Saint Francis women's basketball team, as missed free-throws in the last minute of action cost the Red Flash their first Northeast Conference loss of the season to Wagner, falling 76-74 in overtime on Monday at DeGol Arena in Loretto.
The Red Flash, now 4-10 overall and 1-1- in the NEC, will travel to New York for contests at St. Francis NY (Thursday) and Long Island (Saturday).
The game started off on a poor note for the Red Flash, as Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) sent the tip over to Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal), who had the ball stolen by Stephanie McBride for a fast break layup. However, Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) struck back with a three to give SFU a 3-2 lead. Hodges then bounced back with a steal of her own, sending the ball up to Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) for a layup.
Johnson then grabbed a rebound off a block from Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills), which ended in another three by Daly. Wagner then went on an 8-0 scoring run to take a 12-10 lead, that increased to 21-12 lead after the Seahawks went on 9-2 scoring run.
Daly's third three of the night, along with a layup by Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) brought SFU within three, and a layup by Hodges kept them at 26-23. A fast break layup from Daly, who put up 11 points in the first quarter alone, put them within two at 27-25. Hodges sunk a three to give the Flash 28-27 lead before Kanifa Hicks put up a layup to put the Seahawks ahead once again.
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) sunk a three to put SFU up 31-29 with less than a minute remaining, and Hodges then forced a turnover to give SFU the ball back with 42 seconds left in the first half. Sha'Ron Harrison then scored for the Seahawks, tying the score at 31-31 at halftime.
Killian was sent to the free-throw line to start off the second half, coming away with a point to take a slight lead. Hodges was then sent to the line on the next possession, coming away with two to put SFU up 34-33. She was then sent to the line again, coming away with one this time to send the Red Flash ahead 35-33, and nailed a three to increase the lead to five.
Harrison put up a layup before Megan Mahoney sunk a three to cut Wagner's deficit to just two points. Lilley put SFU up 44-38, but John'a Poole was sent to the line and came away with a point to cut into SFU's lead. Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) hit a layup to put the lead up to seven as the Red Flash did not allow a Seahawk field goal in a three-minute period of action.
Hodges was sent to the line and hit both ends of the one-and-one to stretch the lead to nine. Stephanie McBride scored to cut the advantage to just seven again before Mahoney cut into the lead even further with a three. Daly battled back with her fourth three-pointer of the night to put the Flash up 51-43 with 11:22 remaining.
Kia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), fresh off of a career high in scoring at South Florida, hit a jumper to increase the lead. Mahoney was sent to the line for the Seahawks, coming away with two to put the score at 53-47. The two teams traded field goals, pushing the score up to 55-49.
Poole tied the game up with under five to go, but Daly sunk a three to put SFU on top again. Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) hit the free-throw line for a point, as did Veronick Fournier for the Seahawks. Wagner's Ashley Olsen then went to the charity stripe, coming away with two. Leach made another layup, and Lilley went to the free-throw line for two.
Leach went to the line with 25 seconds remaining, nailing both of her shots to put Saint Francis ahead 65-62. Marie-Laurence Archambault hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Killan was the first to score for the Red Flash in overtime, followed by Lilley. However, the Red Flash remained down by one. Harrison increased the Red Flash's lead to three at the free-throw line. Hodges was sent to the line and came away with two, but Saint Francis could not catch up and suffered the 76-74 loss.
The Flash, led by Hodges with 19 points, shot 40.6 percent overall on the night and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. They had four players finish the night in double figures, as Daly notched 17 points, 15 of which came off of three-point shots. Lilley ended with 14 after putting up five in overtime, and Leach picked up 10 points and nine rebounds.
Hodges also added a team-high four steals and six assists to the stat sheet.
Leach and Johnson lead the rebounding effort with nine apiece as Saint Francis was out-rebounded 49-39. They finished the night with 12 steals to the Seahawks' six.
Shooting 39.4 percent, Wagner was led by Mahoney with 31 points, followed by Poole and Harrison with 10. Harrison notched a double double with 18 rebounds as well.
