BOX SCORE BOX SCORE

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Nov. 15, 2011) – The Pittsburgh Panthers ambushed Saint Francis University, 78-50, in a meeting of 0-1 women's basketball teams at the Petersen Events Center.   For the second straight contest, turnovers stymied the Red Flash, but on Tuesday night the addition of cold shooting to the equation proved disastrous.

Saint Francis shot 17-of-63 (27 percent) from the floor, while handing the ball over 26 times.  Pittsburgh, on the other hand, converted on 31 of 66 (47 percent) field goal opportunities.  The Panthers also held a 53-to-41 advantage on the boards.

“We just really didn't execute offensively tonight,” said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl.  “Defensively, we gave up a lot of easy buckets and that gave Pitt confidence.  We've got to do something about this transition situation; we're giving away the ball way too much.”

Ashlee Anderson posted a career night for the Panthers, tossing in 29 points to lead her team's three double-digits scorers.

The Flash was led by sophomore Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) who – with 10 points and 10 rebounds – registered her fourth career double-double.  Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) paced SFU with 13 points.

Both teams came out of the gates sluggishly, but the Red Flash was able to take a, 2-0, lead on a Williams jumper less than a minute in and parlay that into a four-point edge two minutes later.  The Panthers put their first points on the board at the 16:45 mark on a jumper by Brianna Kiesel.

SFU was able to maintain a slim advantage until a layup by Pittsburgh's Ashlee Anderson knotted things up, 12-12, nine-and-a-half minutes in.

From that point on the Panthers capitalized on the final five of Saint Francis' 13 first-half turnovers and an inconsistent offense to build a, 35-22, halftime lead.

SFU scored first six points of second half and held Pittsburgh without a field goal until nearly four minutes into the period, but the Panthers soon took control of the contest shortly thereafter.

The Red Flash is back in action on Friday when it visits Syracuse.