BOX SCORE PITTSBURGH (Dec. 5, 2012) –The Saint Francis University women's basketball team fell behind early and could not recover on the road against Duquesne Wednesday and fell for just the third time this season, 69-38.
Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) posted 10 points and four rebounds for the Red Flash (4-3, 0-0) but it was not enough against a Duke's (7-1, 0-0) team that had three players in double figure led by Wumi Agunbiade, who posted 22 points and 11 rebounds. Duquesne, who was receiving votes in this week's national poll, controlled the boards and out-rebounded SFU 54-32 and also collected 23 offense boards. Duquesne used the offensive boards to generate 28 second-chance points.
"Nothing went right for us today except for about seven minutes of good defense to close the first half," head coach
Joe Haigh said. "We need to put this game behind us and refocus for a big game Saturday against Colgate and hopeful take something positive into finals next week."
Saint Francis went scoreless over the first 3:37 of the game and the early struggles set the stage for a day of scoring woes for SFU. The Dukes opened the game on a 27-6 run over the first 9:50 of the game, but the Red Flash rallied by stepping up their defense effort and limited Duquesne to just four points the rest of the half. SFU also added 15 points to its total before the intermission and cut the Dukes lead to 31-21 at halftime. Saint Francis could not carry the late first half momentum to the second half were outscored 26-to-7 to start the half. The Red Flash was limited to just 17 second half points and seven second stanza field goals.
Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) left the game in the early in the second frame with injury and did not return.
Saint Francis hits the road Saturday for a contest against Colgate in Hamilton, NY with tipoff set for 4 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- No player on the Flash collected more than four rebounds in the game.
- Saint Francis went 0-for-15 from behind the 3-point arc but did limit Duquesne to just 3-of-16 shooting from 3-point land.
- The Red Flash turned the ball over a season-high 28 times, but did force 23 turnovers, one shy of a season high.
