New Britain, CT – Saint Francis women's basketball (6-11, 3-2 NEC) came up just short in a 73-62 defeat to Central Connecticut State (4-11, 1-4 NEC) on Saturday at the Detrick Center. Jess Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) led the Red Flash with 24 points, while Aunesha Williams (Miami, FL/McEachern (Morgan State)) added ten points and five rebounds.

Robinson Fruchtl's Reaction
"I felt like CCSU played a very inspired game," Interim Head Coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. "They were coming in 0-4 in the NEC and obviously we were on the road as well. I felt like we missed a lot of layups. If we would have made at least half of those, we probably would have come out of here with a victory."

First Quarter Recap

• SFU made just one of its first nine shots on a Kovatch three-pointer as the Red Flash trailed 9-3 in the opening minutes
• CCSU led 13-5 before an 8-2 Saint Francis run narrowed the Blue Devils' lead to 15-13 with two minutes to play
• Two Leah Morrow (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Africentric) free throws with 1:22 to go tied the game 17-17 at the end of the first frame

Second Quarter Recap

• Williams' layup sparked an 11-2 Red Flash run to open the second period as a Kovatch trifecta capped the streak and gave SFU a 28-19 advantage
• Saint Francis led 32-24 following 1-of-2 Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) free throws with 3:25 left
• CCSU closed the quarter on a 10-3 run to cut SFU's lead to 35-34 at halftime

Third Quarter Recap

• CCSU scored the first five points out of the gate in the second half, but the Red Flash responded with eight straight points to give SFU a 43-39 advantage with 6:53 remaining in the third
• The teams battled back-and-forth as Saint Francis held a 51-48 lead following Kovatch's layup with 3:49 to go in the period
• The Blue Devils used a 9-0 run to close the third frame and put CCSU in front 57-51 headed into the final period

Fourth Quarter Recap

• SFU trimmed the Central lead to 60-55 after a Kovatch trey and 1-of-2 Sam Sabino (Rumson, N.J./Rumson Fair Haven (New Hampshire)) free throws with just over eight minutes remaining
• CCSU scored seven quick points to increase the margin to 67-55 with 4:16 to go
• Swogger's three narrowed the Blue Devils' advantage to 70-62 with 56 seconds left
• Central made 3-of-4 free throws over the final minute and played solid defense to seal the win over the Red Flash

Notes

• Kovatch moved into second place all-time in NCAA history with 413 career three-pointers, passing Michigan's Katelynn Flaherty
• Courtney Zezza (Plum, PA/Plum) tallied six of SFU's ten blocks to give her 261 career rejections and move within 17 blocks of Cheril Meier's all-time school record
• Saint Francis shot 21-of-59 from the floor, including 8-of-23 from three-point range and 12-of-17 from the free throw line
• CCSU won the battle on the boards with a 39-29 rebounding advantage
• Central's 73 points was its highest offensive output of the season
• The Red Flash scored 36 points in the paint compared to CCSU's 26 interior points

Up Next
SFU has a quick turnaround as the Red Flash play at Bryant on Monday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m.