MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (Feb. 6, 2010) – An 18-4 deficit in the first minutes of the game resulted in a 79-48 loss for the Saint Francis women's basketball team, as they fell in a crucial game to in-state rival Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon in Moon Township.
The Red Flash now fall to 6-6 in the NEC, and will drop from a tie for fifth place pending the results from the rest of the Northeast Conference.
Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) scored SFU's first points of the day at the free-throw line as it took the Flash over two minutes to get a field goal. Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) finally put up a layup with 17:45 left to go in the first half. Prior to that, the Colonials had jumped out to an early 8-2 lead that turned into a 18-4 lead after RMU's Kristine Silaraja made three shots at the free-throw line with 14:29 left to play in the half.
Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) hit a three-pointer soon after, but couldn't get the lead down to single-digits. Soon after, Vega Gimeno-Martinez nailed a three to put RMU up 21-7. She was then fouled on a steal and added two more to her total at the free-throw line. Hodges made another three to keep the Red Flash in the game before Angela Pace added two more to the RMU tally.
Saint Francis went on an 8-3 scoring run that included three's from Hodges and Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace), but it barely made a dent into the deficit. A last minute three-from Destiny Harrison put the RMU lead at 20, as the Red Flash trailed 42-20 at halftime.
Free-throws from Pace and another three-pointer from Hodges started things off in the second half. SFU scored five straight points off of free-throws after an RMU player received a technical foul, but the Colonials fought back with six points off of layups. Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) sunk a three to cut the deficit to 22 points, while Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) and Martinez traded layups. Gibbs took two at the charity stripe before Hodges drilled another three-pointer from the corner to put the score at 63-38 with 7:41 left to play.
Harrison's three-pointer minutes later put the RMU advantage at 30. Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)'s layup cut into the lead, but a jumper from Pace brought it up to 70-40. Smith added in a late jumper, as did Yohanna Morton, before Lilley to two at the free-throw line as the Red Flash took the 79-48 loss.
Hodges was the lone SFU player to finish in double-figures for Saint Francis, putting up 19 points while committing just one turnover. Gibbs ended the night just shy of double-digits with nine points, four of which came from the free-throw line, and four rebounds. Johnson led the rebounding effort with seven boards, while Lilley led the team with four assists. Lilley also finished the afternoon with four points and four boards. Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) had two of the team's three blocks, with Killian grabbing the other.
Pace had another double double for RMU with 10 points and 10 boards, but it was Martinez who led the scoring with 20 points. Silaraja (15) and Harrison (10) also finished in double-digits for the Colonials.
The Red Flash shot a lackluster 26.4 percent from the field and were slightly better from beyond the arc at 42.1 percent. The Colonials finished at 51.8 percent from the field and 45 percent on three-point shots.
Saint Francis will travel to Smithfield, R.I., to take on future NEC member Bryant on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
