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LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 12, 2011) – Four Saint Francis players scored in double figures as the Red Flash cruised to an 84-66 victory over archrival Robert Morris in a battle of first place teams on Saturday evening at DeGol Arena.
Freshman Alexandra Williams scored a team-high 18 points as the Flash rolled to its biggest win of the season and its most lopsided victory against the Colonials since the 2003-04 season.
Saint Francis improved to 16-9 on the campaign and took sole possession of first place in the Northeast Conference with an 11-2 mark. Robert Morris – which had held at least a share of the NEC's top spot since Jan. 21, 2010 – fell to 13-10 and 10-3 in league play.
"It's huge to have four people [score] in double figures, it doesn't matter who it is," said Flash head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “When we play team basketball we're very difficult to beat.”
“That being said, Robert Morris is a great team. I know they'll be ready and fired up for Monday. We're going to need to put this behind us very quickly.”
As a part of the NEC's 'Rivalry Week,' the two teams will meet again on Monday – this time at the Sewall Center – for a 7 p.m. contest.
Neither team led by more than four points early on in the first half until a pair of
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) free throws at the 5:24 mark jump-started a 13-4 Red Flash run that gave Saint Francis a 10-point edge entering the locker room.
The Colonials managed only two points from the floor in the final 5:52 of the period. RMU managed to cut their deficit to eight with a pair of Kristine Silaraja free throws but a late steal and layup by
Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) re-extended SFU's advantage to double digits.
“We gradually kept gaining confidence,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “We got to an eight-point lead, then we got to 10 and finished strong going into half time. I think that gave us confidence and we just kept building on it from there.”
The Flash maintained a lead of 10 points or more for most of the first six minutes of the second half before a 10-to-2 run capped by a Williams jumper gave the Red & White a then-game-high 18-point edge.
The Flash – who shot 50 percent (32-of-64) from the floor on the evening – led by as many as 25 points down the stretch.
Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (16),
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (14) and
Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) (12) joined Williams with double-digit scoring totals.
Williams notched her second double-double of the season by grabbing a game-high 10 of SFU's 37 rebounds. The Red Flash out-rebounded the Colonials 37-29 on the night.
Kristine Silaraja paced Robert Morris with a game-high 20 points.