FLASH POINTS

• Saint Francis defeated Pitt-Johnstown in a season-opening exhibition for the third straight season.

• Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) led four Red Flash players in double-figures with 31 points.

• SFU had 11 players record valuable playing time in the season-opening tuneup. Eight players saw 14 or more minutes of action each.

Loretto, PA - Saint Francis used a well-balanced attack to pull away from a pesky Pitt-Johnstown squad in a 85-78 exhibition victory on Wednesday inside DeGol Arena.

The Red Flash were led in scoring by Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) with 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 7-of-13 from behind the three-point arc and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. She was joined in double-figures by Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) (12), Aunesha Williams (Miami, FL/McEachern High School (Morgan State via Gardner-Webb)) (12) and Courtney Zezza (Plum, Pa./Plum) (10).

HAIGH REACTION

"Offensively I thought we had a ton of open shots," Head Coach Joe Haigh said. "We missed a lot of shots and hopefully more of them will go in. I think the major focus after the first quarter, we really concentrated on offensive transition and defensively getting into our spots. I was happy with that for the most part. Pitt-Johnstown had a really good press break against us, so we are going to have to tighten up a little bit with our press that way."

FIRST QUARTER RECAP

• Saint Francis jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on a Williams three-pointer

• Sam Sabino's (Rumson, N.J./Rumson Fair Haven (New Hampshire)) layup put SFU ahead 15-9 and forced UPJ to call a timeout

• UPJ then went on an 11-0 run to grab a 20-15 lead on two Katie Bolden free throws

• Kovatch drained a trifecta at the buzzer to cut the Mountain Cats' lead to 22-20 after the opening period

SECOND QUARTER RECAP

• Pitt-Johnstown gained its largest lead of the game when Gabrielle Smith knocked down two free throws to give the Mountain Cats a 31-25 advantage

• The Red Flash fought back and seized a 33-32 lead following back-to-back three-pointers from Kovatch and Jenna Mastellone (New York City/Archbishop Molloy)

• SFU, which shot 16-of-39 from behind the three-point arc, used another pair of treys from Swogger and Kovatch to knot the score at 41-41

• UPJ scored the final four points of the quarter to hold a 45-41 lead at halftime

THIRD QUARTER RECAP

• Ali McGrath scored the first seven points of the second half for the Mountain Cats to put UPJ ahead 52-46

• The Red Flash went on to outscore Pitt-Johnstown, 18-6, the rest of the period to take a 64-58 lead into the fourth quarter

FOURTH QUARTER RECAP

• UPJ kept it close and narrowed the margin to 72-70 on a Nicole Olkosky layup

• Zezza capped an 11-1 Red Flash run with a three-pointer off a steal to give SFU its largest lead of the game at 83-71

• Tori Moreland's trey with two seconds left trimmed SFU's final advantage to 85-78

LOOKING AHEAD

The Red Flash open the regular season on Nov. 6 at Rutgers. Tip time from the Rutgers Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m.