Pittsburgh, Pa. – Saint Francis women's basketball (3-9) battled wire-to-wire with in-state rival Pittsburgh (8-5) before falling just short in a 78-75 overtime defeat on Friday evening at the Petersen Events Center. Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) led the Red Flash with 26 points, while Aunesha Williams (Miami, FL/McEachern (Morgan State)) added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Robinson Fruchtl's Reaction
"We've really given great effort for the last four games," Interim Head Coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. "To go on the road and play Pitt as hard as we did was a huge accomplishment. No moral victories. We could have come out of here with a win. That's disappointing, but I'm very proud of the kids. We really battled."

First Quarter Recap

• Pitt jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 2:51 left in the opening period as both teams struggled to execute early on
• Kovatch and Williams connected on three-pointers to cut the Panthers' advantage to 11-10
• Pitt closed the period on a 6-0 run as the hosts led 17-10 at the end of the first frame

Second Quarter Recap

• Saint Francis came out on fire in the second period as Kovatch's layup sparked an 8-2 run that was capped off with back-to-back AJ Timbers (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann Gorretti (Towson)) treys to cut Pitt's lead to 19-18 with just under six minutes to play in the period
• Following a Panthers' jumper, Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) knocked down consecutive trifectas and Kovatch made 1-of-2 from the free throw line to put the Red Flash ahead 25-21
• Courtney Zezza's (Plum, PA/Plum) triple with just over two minutes to play started a 10-0 SFU run to close the period as the Red Flash surged to a 35-23 halftime lead

Third Quarter Recap

• Pitt responded to start the second half as the Panthers pulled within seven at 39-32 with just over six minutes remaining in the quarter
• Kovatch converted on 3-of-3 from the free throw line as the Red Flash led 47-38
• Saint Francis led 49-40 before Pitt closed the period on a 10-1 run to tie the game 50-50 at the end of the third frame

Fourth Quarter Recap

• The Panthers picked up where it left off as a 10-3 run to start the fourth quarter put Pitt ahead 60-53 with 6:37 to play
• SFU fought back and narrowed the margin to 63-62 on a Williams three-pointer
• The teams continued to battle as Leah Morrow (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Africentric) made a layup and stole the ensuing inbound pass and scored another easy basket to give the Red Flash a 68-67 lead with 1:44 remaining
• Pitt answered with a layup and Morrow converted on 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game 69-69 with 30 seconds to go in regulation
• Saint Francis came up with a defensive stand to force overtime

Overtime Recap

• Kovatch opened the scoring in the extra session with a trifecta as SFU led 72-69
• Two Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) free throws put the Red Flash ahead 74-73 with 2:39 to play
• Pitt went 5-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 2:18 to grab a 78-75 advantage
• Kovatch's contested three-point attempt in the final seconds was off the mark as the Panthers held on for the victory

Notes

• Saint Francis shot 25-of-67 from the floor, including 12-of-33 from behind the three-point arc and 13-of-23 from the free throw line
• Pitt had a narrow advantage on the boards with a 44-42 rebounding margin
• Morrow forced three of the Red Flash's 11 steals
• SFU scored 37 points off 25 Panthers turnovers
• The Red Flash bench scored 30 points, which doubled the 15 points scored by Pitt's reserves

Looking Ahead
Saint Francis has two weeks off for the holidays before returning to action on Jan. 5 against Fairleigh Dickinson. Tipoff at DeGol Arena is set for 4 p.m.