Brooklyn, N.Y. – Saint Francis women's basketball (6-9, 3-0 NEC) used a strong second half to power past LIU Brooklyn (1-13, 0-3 NEC) in an 80-66 victory on Saturday at the Steinberg Center. Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) overcame a slow start to score 24 points, while Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) had a career-high 23 points and Leah Morrow (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Africentric) added 13 points in the win for the Red Flash.
 
First Quarter Recap

• Saint Francis got off to a fast start as a Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) jumper put the Red Flash ahead 10-3 with 4:57 to play in the first period
• LIU Brooklyn responded with an 8-2 run to cut SFU's advantage to 12-11 with 3:27 left
• The Red Flash led 17-14 at end of the first frame

Second Quarter Recap

• Saint Francis used back-to-back Thomas three-pointers to grab a 25-17 lead with 6:19 remaining in the second period
• Kovatch's jumper put SFU in front 30-25 with 2:48 to go
• The Red Flash led 33-32 at halftime

Third Quarter Recap

• A Courtney Zezza (Plum, PA/Plum) layup sparked a 9-2 SFU run to open the third period as the Red Flash seized a 42-34 lead
• The Saint Francis lead grew to 51-38 following a Kovatch three-pointer with 4:56 to play
• LIU Brooklyn pulled within eight at 56-48 with just over a minute remaining
• Two Swogger free throws with 10 seconds to go put the Red Flash ahead 63-48 at the end of the third quarter

Fourth Quarter Recap

• Back-to-back Kovatch trifectas to open the final frame extended SFU's advantage to 69-48
• Morrow's jumper gave Saint Francis a 75-56 lead with 4:29 remaining in the contest
• The Red Flash had its largest lead of the game at 80-57 following another Kovatch trey with just over three minutes to go
• LIU Brooklyn closed the game with nine straight points, but it was too little too late as Saint Francis secured the victory

Notes

• SFU shot 28-of-62 from the floor, including 7-of-26 from three-point range and 17-of-23 from the free throw line
• Zezza tied her career-high with eight blocks in addition to eight points and ten rebounds
• Kovatch moved into first place all-time at Saint Francis in field goals made with 838. She passes Jess Zinobile and Beth Swink who both previously held the record at 831
• Thomas had four of Saint Francis' eight steals
• SFU won the battle on the boards with a 43-37 rebounding advantage
• The Red Flash scored 42 points in the paint compared to the Blackbirds' 28 points inside

Up Next
Saint Francis will try and improve to 4-0 in NEC play when the Red Flash play at St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday at 7 p.m.