LORETTO, Pa. - Saint Francis (Pa.) defeated Mount St. Mary's
68-51 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball opener
for both teams on Sunday.
Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) paced the Mount (3-5,
0-1 NEC) with 18 points and six rebounds while Sandra Andresson
(Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) chipped in 11 points in the
loss.
Britney Hodges fueled the Red Flash (1-5, 1-0 NEC) with 20
points. Samantha Leach added 15 points and Quinessa Johnson posted
13 points in the winning effort.
Saint Francis (Pa.) jumped out to the advantage and held off a
Mount St. Mary's first-half comeback attempt and never looked back
to win the first league game of the 2009-10 campaign.
The Red Flash opened the first half with a 9-0 run and closed
the stanza on an 11-1 surge to go into the locker room with a 35-22
advantage.
Saint Francis (Pa.) scored the first nine points of the game
thanks to five points from Hodges. Andresson got the Mount on the
scoreboard with a 3-pointer at 15:35 to trim the margin to 9-3.
With the Red Flash holding a 15-10 lead, Saint Francis (Pa.) scored
the next seven points to take a 22-10 lead. Johnson scored five
unanswered points and Hodges scored in the lane in the spurt to
increase its advantage to 22-10 with 10:20 left in the half.
Mount St. Mary's then went on a 9-0 run to make it a 22-19 game.
Dunn and Selina Mann (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) each hit
jumpers to start the run. Andresson hit a 3-ball at 9:01 and Dunn
scored in the lane with 4:24 on the clock to cut the margin to
three points. After Allison Daly and Shene Fleming halted the run
by each converting the backend of two free throws, Mann drained two
charity tosses at 3:06 to cut the deficit to 24-21.
Saint Francis (Pa.) then closed the first half on an 11-1 surge
to restore a double-digit advantage and go into the break with a
35-22 edge. Daly started the spurt with two free throws at 2:32
before Leach nailed a 3-pointer at 2:02 for a 29-22 advantage.
After Andresson hit 1 of 2 at the line at the 1:47 mark, Hodges,
Daly and Fleming each recorded baskets in the final 56 seconds to
cap the run.
The Red Flash scored the first five points in the final frame on
a Johnson 3-pointer and a Fleming layup to extend the lead to 40-22
with 19:03 remaining. Mount St. Mary's had a mini run to cut the
margin to 11 points after an Andresson trey with 10:02 on the
clock, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Wednesday at Virginia
Tech. Game time is 5 p.m.
