LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis women's basketball team's comeback fell short against Duquesne as the Dukes won by a 69-67 on a buzzer beater.

After being down 60-49 after three quarters of play, the Red Flash defense held the Dukes without a point for eight minutes of the fourth quarter and eventually tied the game at 65 and then 67 with 14 seconds on the clock. Duquesne had the final possession of the game. After having its initial shot blocked by Katie Dettwiller, the rebound fell into the hands of Amanda Kalin and she banked it in at the buzzer.
 
Saint Francis 67, Duquesne 69
Records: Saint Francis (0-3), Duquesne (1-1)
Location: DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pa.)
 
KEY MOMENTS
Duquesne went on an 11-0 run during the middle part of the third quarter to take a nine-point lead and ultimately lead by 11 going into the fourth quarter of play.

After a layup on the first drive of the fourth quarter for the Dukes, the Red Flash defense held Duquesne without a point until 1:45 remaining in the game. Saint Francis would tie the game at 65 and 67 and block the initial shot on Duquesne's final possession but the Dukes's final shot fell before the buzzer sounded to spoil the Red Flash's comeback.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Haley Thomas sunk a three-pointer on the first possession of the game on a pass from Dettwiller. Duquesne responded with nine-straight points on the floor to lead 9-3 after three minutes of play. Thomas had the next Red Flash basket to break Duquesne's run.

The Dukes led by as many as eight during the first quarter but a 9-2 SFU run over two minutes closed the gap to one with 2:41 remaining in the opening quarter. Saint Francis trailed 20-22 after a physical first quarter saw the Red Flash at the line for seven free throw attempts.

Dettwiller tied the game at 22 to open the second quarter. The teams traded points for much of the second quarter but neither team made a field goal in the final 3:17 of the first half as all points from then on came from free throws. Saint Francis held a 37-36 lead going into the locker room. Karson Swogger, Sam Miller and Thomas each had seven points in the first half to lead SFU scoring.

The Red Flash scored the first four points of the second half but Duquesne would tie the game at 41 by answering with five-straight points. The then took a 44-43 lead with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter, its first lead since 2:54 to play in the first half.

Duquesne went on an 11-0 run to lead 52-43 with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter before Swogger ended Saint Francis' scoring drought. The Dukes outscored the Red Flash 24-12 in the third quarter to take a 60-49 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Scoring slowed on both sides of the court as the Red Flash outscored the Dukes 4-2 leading into the fourth quarter media timeout with 4:41 to play. Lili Benzel hit a three-pointer out of the media timeout to cut the Duquesne lead to 62-56 with less than four minutes remaining.

Four-straight points on the floor from Dettwiller put her in double figures for the first time this season and fourth time in her career and trimmed the Dukes' lead to 62-60 with 2:41 to play, forcing Duquesne to take a timeout. The Red Flash held the Dukes scoreless for eight minutes of play before Duquesne was able to complete a three-point play to increase the lead to 65-60.

Saint Francis tied the game at 65 with less than one minute remaining as the Red Flash outscored the Dukes 16-5 in the fourth quarter to that point. After a layup from the Dukes, Swogger responded and the game was tied at 67 with 18 seconds to play.

On Duquesne's final possession, Dettwiller blocked the initial shot but a quick offensive rebound and put-back gave the Dukes the buzzer beater to win the game, 69-67.

STATS
Saint Francis had the 18-17 edge in rebounds, 9-8 advantage in assists and had four turnovers compared to Duquesne's eight during the first half. The Dukes finished the game with 43 rebounds to the Red Flash's 31. Each team had 16 assists but Saint Francis had a +10 turnover margin.

GAME NOTES

• Swogger scored in double figures for the second-straight game and the 40^th time in her career as she ended the game with a team-leading 15 points.
• Dettwiller scored in double figures for the first time this season and fourth in her career, ending the game with 13.
• Benzel has scored in double figures each of the three games this season as she scored 10 against Duquesne. She also led the team with seven rebounds.
• Dettwiller had two blocks in today's game as she's averaged 2.0 blocks through the first three games of the season. The sophomore is up to 42 career blocks.

UP NEXT
The Red Flash are on the road for a Saturday matchup at La Salle. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.