NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (Feb. 13, 2010) – The Saint Francis defense held the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils to 33 percent from the field, and forced numerous scoring droughts as the Red Flash women's basketball team defeated the Blue Devils 64-45 on Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Conn.
The Flash, who were in a must-win situation as this was the lone matchup between the two teams, are now 7-7 in the Northeast Conference and 10-14 overall.
Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) took pass from Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) ( and sent it up for three points to start the game off, then came down the court and did it again as the Red Flash took a 6-2 lead. Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota west) and Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) added in their first points of the day to put SFU up by eight points early in the first half.
Leach drove in for two more layups, hitting double-figures in points less than eight minutes into the game. Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) sunk a three from the corner, while Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) followed up with a three of her own to put SFU up 20-10. Emily Rose sunk a three-pointer for the Blue Devils, as did Kerianne Dugan to cut into the Red Flash lead. PJ Wade was the next to hit a triple, cutting SFU's lead to just two with eight and a half minutes left.
Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) put up two in the paint off of a sweet pace from Leach, while Brooke Bailey added in two for CCSU. Leach hit her third three-pointer of the game, then went to the free-throw line for two more. Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) also sunk a free-throw before Wade made CCSU's first field goal in almost five minutes Lilley and Rose traded buckets as the Red Flash ended the half with a 32-25 lead.
Dugan and Wade both put up buckets to cut SFU's lead to start the second half, but the Red Flash offense kicked it into high gear with a layup from Leach. Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills), who got her first start since January 14, spun around and added two more in the paint before Daly hit her first three-pointer of the afternoon with 16:10 left to play in the game.
Hodges put up a bucket, then added another on a fast break soon after. Justina Udenze put up her first two points of the day before Wade took two of three at the free-throw line, with a bucket from Smith sandwiched in between, to bring the SFU lead back to single digits. Hodges added two more points on a fast break, while Dugan made a jumper to bring CCSU within seven.
Hodges sent up two more, while Leach put in a layup as the Red Flash kept going. Udenze put up two more in the paint for the Blue Devils, while Hodges added in another two from the field before taking two freebies at the line. She then added in two more on a fast break, while team-leading Leach put up a layup before fouling out with three minutes left to go in the game.
With Leach out, Killian added in a short jumper for her second bucket of the day after a free-throw by Dugan. Leanne Crockett put up two points on a layup with two and a half minutes to go, making what would be the Blue Devils' last buckets of the game.
Fouled twice in a row, Hodges went to the free-throw line for three points, and was joined by Daly who put up two more at the charity stripe as the Red Flash took a 64-45 victory from CCSU.
SFU shot 40.7 percent from the field in the game, and improved at the free-throw line by shooting 70 percent. They were 37.5 percent from beyond the arc with six three-pointers.
Leach led the scoring with 21 points, and was followed by Hodges wit h18. Hodges also led the rebounding effort with seven boards. Daly and Lilley each finished with seven points, with Daly adding in four assists as well.
The Red Flash finished with 26 points in the paint, 23 points off of 28 turnovers and 11 points off of fast breaks.
SFU held Dugan to just 12 points on the night, with Wade adding in 11. Crockett and Udenze grabbed a combined 21 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who out-rebounded the Red Flash 38-35.
Saint Francis will host Quinnipiac on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. in DeGol Arena.
