LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 5, 2011) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball team earned an impressive, 73-59, victory over Northeast Conference-rival Bryant on Saturday in front of a DeGol Arena crowd chock-full of Red Flash greats.

With legendary coach Jenny Przekwas, all-time leading scorer Jess Zinobile and 1,500-point scorer Mary Markey among the onlookers, the Flash matched their largest margin of victory of the season in what was a welcome departure from the usual down-to-the-wire endings.

“We'll take it and go,” said Flash head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “We haven't peaked yet and I see that as a positive. We still have a lot of things to work on but it's February and those things need to start happening.”

She continued: “I think we're playing as well as anyone in the conference right now. It's going to be interesting down the stretch.”

The 14-point win was SFU's largest since trouncing Pittsburgh, 85-71, on Dec. 1.

Senior Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) paced Saint Francis' four double-digit scorers with 16 points. Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) was close behind with 14 while Shené Fleming and Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) tossed in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Flash (14-9; 9-2 NEC) accumulated leads as large as 15 points in the first half but a lapse with under five minutes to play before the intermission gave the Bulldogs a glimmer of hope.

Bryant cut their deficit to five points with 1:37 to play in the opening period on a Jenniqua Bailey layup, but a 7-to-2 Red Flash run made the score 42-32 at the half.

Saint Francis opened the second half with a 19-to-5 run that spanned six minutes to open up a 61-37 edge. Daly scored each of her 10 second-half points during the stretch – six of those came from long-range.

Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) paced SFU with 10 rebounds, although the Bulldogs held a 48-to-41 edge on the boards.

“Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) had a big second half, especially on the boards,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “She had one rebound at half time and we talked about that. She adjusted to end up with 10.”

Meredith Soper was Bryant's leading scorer with 11 points.

Saint Francis, which never trailed in the contest, shot 41.4 percent (29-of-70) from the floor.

The Red Flash welcome Central Connecticut State for a 7 p.m. contest on Monday.