Loretto, Pa. – Saint Francis women's basketball (11-16, 9-7 NEC) was unable to overcome LIU (7-19, 6-9 NEC) in a 71-64 defeat on Sunday at DeGol Arena. Haley Thomas (Hooversville, PA/Bishop McCort) scored a season-high 20 points, while Karson Swogger (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) and Lili Benzel (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle (Shippensburg)) joined her in double-figures with 12 points each.

SFU jumped out to a 9-6 lead following a Phee Allen (Newport News, VA/Woodside) layup with 7:02 to play in the first quarter. The Sharks responded to take a 13-11 lead with 4:28 remaining. Swogger's layup with 16 seconds to go put the Red Flash ahead 18-17 at the end of the first stanza.

A back-and-forth start to the second quarter had the score tied 25-25 with 5:49 to play. LIU closed the period on a 7-0 run to hold a 32-25 halftime advantage.

A Thomas layup with 7:57 left in the third period made the margin 36-29. The Sharks then used a 10-2 run to seize a 46-31 lead with 4:49 remaining. SFU continued to fight and trimmed the score to 48-39 following a Thomas old-fashioned three-point play with 1:55 to go. LIU led 52-39 at the end of the third frame.

The Sharks led by double-figures for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter before a Thomas layup narrowed the margin to 56-47 with 5:03 remaining. Benzel's trifecta cut the lead to 58-52 with 3:17 left.

Five straight LIU points extended the score to 63-52 with 1:27 to play. The Sharks led 68-57 when SFU responded with a 7-0 run as a Sam Miller (Red Lion, PA/Dallastown) three-pointer cut the score to 68-64 with 22 seconds to go. LIU made 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to hand the Red Flash the loss.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Saint Francis shot 27-of-51 (52.9%) from the floor, including 8-of-24 (33.3%) from three-point range.
• The Red Flash held a 33-22 rebounding advantage.
• SFU scored 38 points in the paint compared to LIU's 24 points inside.
• The Red Flash bench scored 25 points, while the Sharks' reserves had 10 points.
• The game featured three ties and seven lead changes.
• In her season-high scoring performance, Thomas shot 9-of-13 from the floor.
• Benzel's 12 points came on 4-of-12 from three-point range.

Notes

• With the loss, SFU falls to 50-20 in the all-time series history.
• The Red Flash have lost three straight contests to LIU.
• Saint Francis falls to 5-6 at DeGol Arena this season.
• The Red Flash have dropped three straight games.
• SFU remains in fourth place in the NEC standings, but would be the No. 3 seed in the NEC tournament if the season ended today.

Up Next

• Saint Francis returns to action hosting Mount St. Mary's for Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.