BOX SCORE  LEWISBURG, Pa. (Nov. 14, 2012) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball picked up a hard fought road win against Bucknell Wednesday, 62-54, at Sojka Pavilion. 
 
The Red Flash (2-0, 0-0) got a tremendous effort from Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle), who tallied 22 points and added a career-high 19 rebounds en route to SFU's first win against the Bison (0-2, 0-0) in Lewisburg since 1999. The Flash struggled with foul trouble all night but used a late run and an excellent defensive effort to get off to the program's best start in 36 years. 

"It was a great hard fought game," head coach Joe Haigh said. "Bucknell played extremely hard and the first half I was a little disappointed with our intensity level. I am really proud of our team and how we played in the second half to come back."

Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) struggled with foul issues all night but still posted 10 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Gibbs also sparked the Red Flash defense in the second half with key stops but SFU was strong on defense all night limiting Bucknell to just 26.8-percent shooting. Bucknell got a solid showing from Lindsay Horbatuck, who posted nine points and 15 rebounds while Shelby Romine (12) and Alyssa Dunn (11) both scored in double figures for the Bison. 
 
Both teams struggled in the first half from the field as Saint Francis went just 9-of-24 (26.5-percent) and Bucknell was limited to just 23.1-percent from the field. Personal fouls also slowed the SFU offense as Gibbs picked up her second foul just three minutes into the first period and sat the bench the rest of the half. Saint Francis kept the differential to just three in the first half thanks to great defense. The Flash limited Bucknell to just six field goals in the first frame but the SFU fouls allowed Bucknell to pick up nine points on 13 trips to the free throws stripe. Even with the strong defensive effort, SFU need a Hope Phillips (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) 3-pointer from the top of the arc at the buzzer to cut the Bucknell lead to 23-20 at the intermission.
 
The Flash started the second half strong and jumped out to a 26-25 lead but Bucknell responded with a 9-0 run from the 18:32 mark to 16:02 to take a 34-26 lead. Saint Francis got back in front with an 11-0 run of its own from the 16:02 mark to 12:01 to retake the lead at 37-34. Foul trouble then hampered SFU's momentum as both Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Shené Fleming both picked up their fourth foul within a minute of each other. Without the two SFU starters Bucknell rallied and even the game a 50 with 5:18 remaining. Saint Francis closed the game on 12-4 run led by Williams who scored six of the 12 points in the run and also pulled down four rebounds in the final stretch. The defense also stood tall in the final 5:18 allowing just one Bucknell field goal.   
 
The Red Flash return to action Sunday as SFU welcomes Akron to DeGol Arena for a 2 p.m. tipoff. 
 
GAME NOTES
- The Red Flash were held without a basket over the first 3:57 of the contest going 0-for-6 from the field.
 
- Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) saw just three minutes of first half action after she picked up two early fouls.
 
- Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Shené Fleming, both starters for SFU Wednesday, fouled out.
 
- The 19 rebounds for Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) are a career-high and her seven offense rebounds alone would rank her third among all players in the game.  
 
- Saint Francis out-rebounded the Bison 51-46 for the game and SFU also did well on the offense boards bringing in 19, while limiting Bucknell to just 10. 
 
- The win for SFU ranks as its first against Bucknell in Lewisburg Dec. 19, 1999 and it is just the third win ever for the Flash against Bucknell in Lewisburg.
 
- SFU is off to its first 2-0 start since the 1976-77 season, when Veronica Bussard guided the Flash to a 4-0 start.