BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS - POSTGAME with the Players - POSTGAME with Coach Haigh

LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 9, 2012) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball team opened up the regular season Friday night with a 69-61 win against Howard at DeGol Arena.
 
The Red Flash (1-0, 0-0) fans saw the return of two injured players and the debut of Joe Haigh as head coach Friday night against the Bison (1-0, 0-0). Howard, tabbed the favorites to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, struggled against SFU's pressure defense and could not stop Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle). Williams racked up 20 points and 12 rebounds but the Flash needed to survive a late drought to pull out the win. Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and Shené Fleming both returned to the starting lineup after missing all of last season.  
 
SFU opened the game on a 13-5 run over the first 5:36, as Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) powered the Flash in run by scoring or assisting on three of the field for SFU. Cheyenne Curly-Payne powered Howard (0-1) in the first half with 10 points, five rebounds and rallied the Bison to a 25-25 tie with just three minutes remaining in the half. After Howard grabbed a 27-25 lead, Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) connected on a pair of 3-pointers and deep jumpers from the corner to send SFU to the locker room with a 33-30 advantage.
 
Coming out of the break Howard collected the first four points of the second half and took a one-point lead early on. At the 17:40 mark Howard's Nicole Deterville connected on a layup in the paint that put Howard up for the final time in the game. The Red Flash used a 7-0 run through the midway point in the half to secure the lead back, a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Saint Francis led by 11 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, but Howard closed the gap a bit, coming within six points of SFU. During the Bison run, Saint Francis went scoreless for about a six minute time frame. As the game neared its end, Lilley hit a jumper with 1:09 remaining that put an end to Howard's run and secured an opening game victory for the Red Flash.
 
Howard collected 22 of its points off turnovers but Saint Francis turned in 16 second chance points and got seven points from its bench. Williams displayed the solid play she's turned in her entire career and opened the season with a double-double, registering 20 points and 12 rebounds. Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and Hayward dropped double figures as well as Gibbs tallied 14 points and Hayward finished with 11.
 
Saint Francis returns to the court Nov. 14 with a road contest at Bucknell at 7 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pa.
 
GAME NOTES
- Head coach Joe Haigh earned the first win of his career as a collegiate head coach.
 
- Saint Francis started the second half on a 8-0 run making its first four shots without a miss.
 
- Haigh became the first SFU head coach to win in his debut since Myndi Hill. He also keeps the trend going of head coaches winning in their home opener debut as only one Flash coach has ever lost their home debut.