SMITHFIELD, R.I. (Feb. 11, 2010) – Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) put up 20 points, but the Saint Francis women's basketball team couldn't climb out of an early hole as they fell to future Northeast Conference member Bryant 89-86 on Thursday afternoon at the Chase Athletic Center.

The Red Flash will head west to Connecticut to face Central Connecticut State in a crucial matchup on Saturday in New Britain.

Bryant won the tip and scored a three right off the bat, but Saint Francis struck back with a layup from Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).  Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) went to the free-throw line to tie it up, and then made a layup to give the Red Flash a slim lead.

Meredith Soper grabbed a rebound before putting up a layup to tie the game again.  Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) nailed her first of four three-point shots as the Red Flash again took the lead.  Bryant went on a 6-1 scoring run that ended with a jumper by Hodges, but the Flash remained down by three with 14:47 left to play.

The next two points for each team came off of free-throws, before Lekia Cowen and Brittany Stahura each added in two points.   Bryant went on another scoring run, this time 15-6 as the Bulldogs pushed their advantage up to 16 points.  Leach and Hodges both made layups, with Daly adding in another three-point shot.  Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) put up her first points of the day, but Mraz and Soper each added in two from the field.  Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) went to the free-throw line for two, as did Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt).  Hodges and Cowen traded three's, and Stahura took one from the free-throw line as they Red Flash trailed 54-37 at the half.

Hodges sunk a three-pointer to open the second half, but Bryant responded with a layup by Kelsey O'Keefe.  Smith put up two points in the paint to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 18 points, but two from Cowen brought it back to 20.  Lilley added in two layups, while Siamone Bennett put up two points at the charity stripe to keep Bryant ahead by 20.  Daly put up her third triple of the night, but the Bryant lead stayed in the high teens.

Leach sunk her first three-pointer of the night before Lilley put up two points on a fast break. Hodges added in two more off a fast break before Day sunk yet another three to cut the SFU deficit to nine.  O'Keefe stalled the Red Flash run with a layup, and free-throws from Bennett put kept the Bryant lead in double-digits. 

Leach put up two in the paint before Cowen and Mraz combined for five points.  Lilley and Hodges put up a total of five, while Killian added in a free-throw shot.  Leach made a great steal and sent it over to Lilley, who turned it into three points.  However, Mraz was sent to the free-throw line and came away with both as the Red Flash took an 89-76 loss.

Lilley came close to her season-high with 17 points, while Leach added in 14 and Daly put up 12 – all off of three-pointers.   Johnson, Daly and Lilley tied for best rebounding effort with each grabbing five.

One category the Red Flash won was turnovers, as they made 13 steals for a total of 22 Bryant turnovers.  They then put up 25 points off of the miscues, while turning the ball over just 12 times themselves. 

SFU shot just 38.2 percent from the field and 36.0 on three-pointers.  They made 60 percent of their free-throw shots, as opposed to the Bulldogs, who were 57.9 percent overall and 76.2 at the line.