MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Dec. 18, 2010) – No. 7/8 West Virginia rode a proficient offense to an 83-55 victory over Saint Francis in women's basketball action Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum. Three Mountaineers scored in double figures on what was a 51 percent (32-for-63) shooting night for WVU.
The Red Flash – who shot at a 38-percent clip on the evening – were paced by Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) and Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), who registered 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Madina Ali led the Mountaineers with 18 points on a 7-for-7 night from the field.
“We didn't shoot well there for a stretch,” said Saint Francis head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “I think a couple of our kids did pass up some shots in that first half which they should've taken. I thought we could've played better but West Virginia's good.”
Saint Francis opened the second half with a 7-2 stretch, but West Virginia responded by pushing its margin to 20 points, 58-38, with just over 14 minutes to play. From that point on, the WVU defense took the game over, holding the Flash to 20 points for the duration of the game.
The setback – which derailed a four-game SFU winning streak – dropped the Red Flash to 0-4 all-time against the Mountaineers and 5-5 on the young season. WVU, meanwhile, improved to 11-0 on the campaign.
The Red Flash were competitive in the game's opening minutes, as threes by Leach and Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) gave Saint Francis an early 6-2 edge, which proved to be the visitors' largest of the game.
After that the Mountaineer offense came to life with WVU taking its first lead of the contest at the 17:23 mark on an Asya Bussie layup.
Despite the outburst, SFU managed to keep its deficit to single digits for most of the game's first seven minutes. West Virginia briefly edged its lead to 10 but Lilley cut the Mountaineer lead to eight with a jumper at the 12:56 mark to halt a six-point WVU run.
“We started off hot which we normally do,” Robinson Fruchtl said, “but against a team like West Virginia you just can't make mistakes, or make multiple mistakes in a row, because it can go from a tie game or down by four to a 10-, 14-point lead right away.”
Saint Francis cut the margin back to nine, 26-17, on a Lilley free throw around the nine-minute mark but WVU quickly increased its advantage to 14 less than a minute later and built an eventual 46-28 halftime lead with the aid of a key 11-to-2 run.
Leach and Lilley shared first-half scoring honors for the Flash, each tossing in 10.
Saint Francis continues its eight-game road trip on Wednesday with a visit to Duquesne. The tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
