FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Jan. 29, 2011) – Saint Francis staged a furious comeback to erase a late 12-point deficit but ended up on the short end of a 64-61 score on Saturday afternoon against Sacred Heart University at the William H. Pitt Center.
Senior Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the final 1:43 of play and nearly nailed a potentially game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer but the desperation shot was just off the mark.
“It was too late,” Saint Francis head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said of her team's come-from-behind effort. “Until the six minute mark of the second half, I didn't think we play with enough urgency. There has to be a sense of urgency this time of the year.”
“We have enough veterans on our team that this shouldn't happen.”
The loss drops Saint Francis to 12-9 overall and into a tie for second place in the Northeast Conference with a 7-2 league record. SFU will visit the NEC's other second-place team, Quinnipiac, at 7 p.m. on Monday.
“We know that this is a critical weekend,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “We have to recover from this very quickly, learn from it, put it in the past and we have to be ready to go on Monday night.”
Down 33-26 at the half, the Flash battled back to force a 43-all tie at the 12:44 mark on a Leach layup. Leach was fouled on the play and converted on the ensuing free throw opportunity to give SFU its first lead of the half.
The Pioneers (12-8; 6-3 NEC) answered by scoring 17 of the game's next 20 points to give Sacred Heart its largest lead of the game – 12 points – with just under five minutes to play.
A Leach-keyed 12-0 Red Flash run knotted the game up at 59-59 with 1:10 left but a 3-pointer by SHU's Maggie Cosgrove at the 37 second mark stacked the deck against the Flash.
Alexandra Williams scored 13 points for Saint Francis while Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Callan Taylor paced Sacred Heart with 18 points.
Neither team could pull away in the first half, which featured five ties and five lead changes. Only in the period's closing seconds were the Pioneers able to put some space between themselves and the Flash.
Saint Francs' largest lead of the game was a four-point margin (24-20) at the eight minute mark of the first half.
