BOX SCORE Highlights

LORETTO, Pa. (Dec. 3, 2011) – Saint Francis shrugged off a slow opening eight minutes and leaned heavily on a strong defensive effort to open its Northeast Conference schedule with a, 69-56, victory over a determined Fairleigh Dickinson squad.

The win at DeGol Arena on Saturday afternoon also upped Saint Francis' record to 3-3 on the young season.  Fairleigh Dickinson fell to 3-6.

“Well, I think, defensively, we just really did a great job in our 1-3-1,” said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl.  “It took them out of what they wanted to do.  They were hurting us with penetration and offensive rebounding early on.  When we settled down – when we played great defense – it sparked our offense.”

Saint Francis struggled out of the gates, offensively, falling into a nine-point hole less than eight minutes into the contest. 

The deficit wouldn't last long.

A layup by Hope Phillips (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) sparked a run of 17 consecutive Red Flash points over the next 9:34 minutes.  Less an Erica McKeithan jumper at the 2:04 mark, SFU closed the first half on a 12-minute 23-to-2 run that gave it a 30-16 halftime lead.

Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) and Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) contributed eight and seven points, respectively, during that stretch.

After a Williams layup, the Knights scored 16 of the first 21 points in the second half to pull within three by the 14:24 mark and, after a brief Red Flash surge, to within two with 9:46 left to play.

That was close as FDU would get down the stretch as Saint Francis maintained a double-digit lead for much of the final nine minutes of play.

Williams maintained a white-hot hand for the Flash, tossing in a game-high 19 points.  She also pulled down 15 of SFU's 44 rebounds to notch her third double-double of the season.  Freshman Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) – who converted on 4-of-10 3-point attempts – scored 16 points.

Gibbs chipped in 12 for her third consecutive double-digit scoring game.

The Red Flash also recorded a season-high 14 assists while keeping its turnovers at a minimum with 14.  In addition to eight boards, Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) led both teams with a career-high eight assists.

FDU, on the other hand, committed 24 turnovers which the Flash converted into 25 points.  The Knights were led by Mariyah Laury who scored 11, but also coughed the ball up 11 times.

Saint Francis returns to action on Monday when it welcomes Monmouth in a rematch of March's NEC Championship game.  Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.