BOX SCORE

LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 18, 2012) – After sprinting three quarters of the court, Saint Francis guard Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) leapt toward Bryant's Kaitlyn Hinck as she let go of a shot from deep in the left corner.  Smith's all-out effort resulted in a block and denied the Bulldogs a chance to cut a Red Flash lead to single digits with 42 seconds to play. 

The play drew a standing ovation from the Senior Day crowd of 1,136 – SFU's largest home crowd of the season – and set the stage for the SFU seniors to leave the floor to another round of applause.  A Bryant timeout foiled the fitting exit, but it may have been one of the only wrinkles in Saint Francis', 85-73, win on Saturday.

“When Allison is active on both ends of the floor we're tough to beat,” said SFU head coach Susan Robinson Fuchtl.  “She had six assists, which is excellent, and Sarah Thorn (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) hit her free throws down the stretch to ice the game – that's what seniors do.”

The Red Flash shot 50 percent from the floor for only the second time all year and weathered several Bulldog runs to improve to 12-14 on the season and 9-6 in the Northeast Conference.  The win kept the Flash in line for the fifth seed with three games remain on the regular season slate.

Thorn and Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) each tallied 16 points to lead the Flash offense, while Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) each chipped in 11.

Williams also pulled down 13 of Saint Francis' 40 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.

SFU led by as many as 17 points early in the second half but Bryant, which picked off the Flash on the road in January, battled to make the game interesting in the waning minutes.

“We gave up too many threes there towards the end but, overall, pretty good effort and it's great to get a win again,” said Robinson Fruchtl.

“Bryant played very hard today.  I give them a ton of credit because they know they can't make the playoffs but still come after you.  They'll definitely be a contender starting next year.”

The Bulldogs were led by Hinck, who tossed in a game-high 18 points – including nine from beyond the 3-point arc.  Bryant converted 10 3-point attempts, six of which came in the second half.

The Red Flash opened the game with a 8-0 run and, after a short offensive flurry by the Bulldogs, rebounded to pull ahead by 10, 22-12, by the 13 minute mark.  Bryant, however, regrouped to score the game's next 11 points to take its first lead of the afternoon, 23-22.

After trading several leads, the Red Flash managed to open up a, 43-36, halftime advantage.

Saint Francis welcomes Central Connecticut State on Monday to close out its 2011-12 home season.