LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 22, 2008) – The Saint Francis women's basketball team returned to DeGol Arena for their first home game of the season, but couldn't put up enough offense as they fell to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 82-62 on Saturday evening.
The Flash, who are 0-3 this season, will host the Bowling Green Falcons on November 25 at 7 P.M. at DeGol Arena.
Using a new starting line up, the Red Flash got off to a rocky start, sending the Mountain Hawks to the free throw line just 7 seconds into the game. Lehigh held the lead for the first 5 minutes before a three-point shot from sophomore Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) tied the game at 10-10 with 15:42 left to play in the first half. The Flash were never able to take the lead, and entered the locker room at halftime down 53-28 and shooting just 40 percent from the field.
Sophomore Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) and senior Shawna Scott (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill?Academy) (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) scored first in the second half, but the Red Flash again sent the Mountain Hawks to the free throw line.
Freshman Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) had a three-pointer to score the first points of her collegiate career, and Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) had 3 assists, bringing her to a total of 153 career assists. The Flash shot 53.8 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 47.1 percent. But the turnovers that have plagued the team all season would offset their improved shooting, as they ended the day with 26 turnovers.
"We've got to take care of the ball," said second-year head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. "There were a lot of unforced turnovers tonight. We have a lot of footwork to continue improving."
Junior Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) led the way for the Red Flash with 13 points and 8 rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Leach had 12 points and was 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Thorn set a career high with 4 assists, and Scott tied her career-high for steals with 4.
The Mountain Hawks shot 54.5 percent from the field and 78.9 percent from the free throw line, going a perfect 5-for-5 in the second half. Lehigh, who was led by Alex Ross with 14 points, had four players finish in the double-digits in scoring.
"Again, we had a really good second half, but a very slow start," said Robinson Fruchtl. "I'm not sure exactly what it is, but we need to figure it out. I don't know if its youth, focus, mentality, energy level – it's something that we need to figure out."
