Morehead, Ky – The Saint Francis women's basketball team (1-3, 0-0 NEC) dropped a battle with Morehead State (1-2, 0-0 OVC) on Sunday, 65-54.
The Red Flash jumped into action after tipoff, scoring two quick baskets to take a 4-0 lead. Morehead State channeled the push by SFU and both teams began to settle in, going back and forth and coming up with defensive stops on both ends. Halfway through the quarter, Morehead State upped its pressure and threw full court defenses at the Red Flash, both man-to-man and zone. This sped the game up, but neither team could get many shots to fall. The quarter ended 11-10 Morehead.
In the second quarter, the Eagles forced five SFU turnovers while only giving it away twice. The Red Flash was getting good looks and open shots, but nothing was falling. Morehead extended its lead to seven late in the quarter and took a 28-21 lead into the locker room.
Throughout the entire third quarter, SFU cut Morehead's leads down to 4-5 points five times, but could never get over the hump to make it closer than that. SFU also got it down to three points once, but the Eagles had an answer for each run. After making a couple late baskets, Morehead took a 48-41 lead into the final 10.
The Red Flash showed an impressive display of fight in the fourth quarter. Many bounces were going against SFU, but the team continued to battle and bite into the Eagles lead. With five minutes remaining, SFU cut the lead down to one point, 52-51, after a Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) jumpshot. That was the closest the Red Flash got, though, as Morehead answered on the other end and extended its lead back up to eight before SFU was forced to foul. The game became out of reach with about 45 seconds to go, and Morehead State defeated the Red Flash, 65-54.
Box Score Notes
· Junior Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) and freshman Katie Dettwiller (Portsmouth, Ohio/Notre Dame) led the Red Flash in scoring with 12 apiece. Thomas added five rebounds and two assists, while Dettwiller added five rebounds and one assist.
· Redshirt sophomore Lili Benzel (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle (Shippensburg)) registered season-highs in points (10) and rebounds (6).
· Sophomore Phee Allen (Newport News, VA/Woodside) recorded a season-high eight points.
· Sophomore Jada Dapaa (Potomac, MD/Holy Child) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
· The Red Flash shot 35% from the field and 79% from the line.
Up next for the Red Flash is a trip to Florida this coming weekend for two games; Friday, Nov. 22 at Florida Gulf Coast and Sunday, Nov. 24 at South Florida.
