Morehead, Ky. – The Saint Francis women's basketball team (1-2, 0-0 NEC) picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, a thrilling 78-73 victory over the Stetson Hatters (2-2, 0-0 ASUN) at Morehead State University. The win marks Coach Keila Whittington's first as Red Flash head coach.
After a slow start, the Red Flash found itself down 7-0 three minutes into the game. Shortly after, SFU channeled the Hatters run and answered with a 9-0 run of its own, taking a two-point lead just three and a half minutes later. After both runs, the teams settled in and the Red Flash finished the first quarter trailing 13-11.
Both offenses warmed up in the second quarter, trading buckets throughout. Both defenses also upped the pressure, which turned into transition baskets on each end. Saint Francis outscored Stetson, 22-19, in the quarter to take a 33-32 lead into halftime.
The third quarter stayed tight. Junior Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) also began to heat up, scoring seven of her game-high 29 points in the period. Stetson outscored SFU by a basket, 23-21, to retake the lead at 55-54 heading into the final 10 minutes.
In crunch time, the teams continued to trade blows. After taking a 62-58 lead, the Red Flash offense went nearly three minutes in the middle of the quarter without scoring a point, but the defense grinded it out and held the Hatters to just seven points in that time frame, keeping the game close, but trailing by three. With just three and a half minutes to go, the Red Flash caught another stride on offense and got its lead back up to three. With under two minutes left, the game was tied again at 69, but SFU continued to make plays and come up big on defense. Down 71-70 with a minute remaining, Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) nailed a three-pointer to put the Red Flash back up, 73-71. After taking that lead, SFU never looked back, making five of six free throws down the home stretch to defeat Stetson, 78-73.
Box Score Notes
· Junior Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) recorded a career-high 29 points on 10-20 shooting. She also added five assists. Swogger was proud of her team's efforts against the Hatters:
"As a team we really focused on the gameplan and we also had great intensity all day. Every possession, we were dialed in and knew exactly what we wanted to do to stop them (Stetson)."
· Junior Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) scored a season-high 18 points, going 4-12 from the field but an impressive 8-8 from the free throw line, including 4-4 down the stretch. She also recorded a game-high four steals.
· In her first career start, freshman Katie Dettwiller (Portsmouth, Ohio/Notre Dame) totaled nine points and six rebounds, going 3-4 from the floor.
· Sophomore Jada Dapaa (Potomac, MD/Holy Child) was all over the boards today, pulling down a career-high and game-high 12 rebounds. She also added seven points on 2-3 shooting.
· The game between SFU and Stetson saw eight ties and nine lead changes. No team had a lead larger than seven points.
· The Red Flash shot 42% from the field (23-55) and a strong 81% from the free throw line (25-31).
Up next for the Red Flash is a quick turnaround, staying in Morehead to take on Morehead State tomorrow at 1 p.m.
