BOX SCORE

SEATTLE, Wash. (Dec. 30, 2011) – For the second consecutive day, Saint Francis fell just short of a win at Seattle's KeyArena, this time falling, 66-63, to Saint Louis.

The loss dropped Saint Francis to 5-7 on the season, despite a proficient offense and a staunch second-half defense that allowed 30 points.

“The first half, we just did not play well enough defensively or give a consistent effort for 20 minutes,” said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl.  “We gave up some middle drives and just gave up too many points in the first half.  We played pretty good defense in the second half.”

“We had some defensive lapses that hurt us at some key times.”

Saint Louis led, 36-31, at the half and by as many as seven points in the second half before the Red Flash took its first lead since mid-way through the first on a Rhonda Watts (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) 3-pointer with 8:47 to play in regulation.

The Billikens rebuilt a seven-point edge by the 2:40 mark but an Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) free throw and Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) layup cut the lead to four with less than a minute to play.  Forced to foul, SFU sent Jacy Bradley to line, which moved the score to 64-59.

Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) hit a quick layup, but Bradley sank a pair from the line to re-up the Saint Louis lead to five with 24 seconds to go.

Williams hit a layup with 16 ticks remaining and a Janisha Gearalds turnover gave SFU the ball near midcourt but a Gibbs 3-point attempt as time expired was off the mark.

Bradley led both teams with a season-high 24 points.  In all, four Billikens recorded double-digit scoring totals.  Saint Louis shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field.

For the Flash, Williams recorded 15 points including her 500th career point in the first half.  Gibbs chipped in 11 and Keegan – who has shown substantial improvement over the past three games – had ten for the first double-digit scoring output of her collegiate career.

Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) dished out a career-high-tying seven assists and Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) registered four steals.

As a unit, Saint Francis shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68), but remained cold from 3-point range, hitting on four of 19 attempts.

Most other team statistical categories were relatively even.  Saint Louis edged SFU 40-to-38 on the boards and assists were even at 17.  Each of the 11 Saint Francis players to enter the game, had at least one rebound.

“This was a very competitive tournament,” said Robinson Fruchtl.  “There were four equal teams and it was a matter of a few plays here or there.”

The Red Flash returns to action on New Year's Day when it visits Gonzaga for a 3:15 p.m. (PST) contest.  The Bulldogs were ranked third in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major poll.