Box Score LORETTO, Pa. – Locked in a thrilling back-and-forth battle, Phee Allen was left open on the wing and she hit the go-ahead three that sent Saint Francis U past the Sacred Heart women's basketball team, 60-58, on Saturday night at the DeGol Arena. The loss is the second straight conference road loss for SHU (6-10, 3-2 NEC) while the Red Flash (7-10, 5-1 NEC) have won their last two home games by a combined three points.
Saturday night's dual featured a pair of evenly matched teams as neither side led by more than four points in the fourth quarter while the game saw nine lead changes and seven ties. The Allen triple gave SFU a 60-58 lead as the Pioneers held a one-point advantage in the waning minute. With 19 seconds remaining, SHU had three looks at a potential game-tying bucket but three straight misses secured the SFU win.
Another terrific Adrianne Hagood performance was spoiled by the Red Flash as the junior guard finished with 20 points including seven in the fourth quarter alone. This marks Hagood's sixth straight game with a double-digit point total and her fifth 20+ point effort in 15 games played this season. Jayla Davis scored nine of her 15 point in the third quarter as she also has 10+ points in six straight contests.
1st Quarter (14-11 SHU)
- A fast start saw SHU build an 8-2 advantage midway through the first as two buckets from Olivia Dabney and five early SFU turnovers helped the Pioneers pull out in front early
- The SHU lead grew to as many as nine as Allyson Murphy hit a triple on the wing to make it 11-2 Pioneers, the largest lead of the game for either team
- With just over two minutes left in the quarter and still with just two points, SFU found their offense and went on a 9-3 run over the final 2:07 of the quarter to trail by just three after seeing their offense held in-check for a vast majority of the first
2nd Quarter (27-24 SHU)
- Hagood scored the first five Pioneer points of the quarter as her first three-pointer of the game made it 19-16 SHU with 6:53 left in the period
- SFU took their first lead of the game as Katie Dettwiller converted a great feed from Haley Thomas as the Red Flash led 20-19
- After going nearly six minutes without a field goal, Davis broke the shooting slump with a running layup before buckets followed from Hagood and Sonia Smith to give SHU a 27-24 halftime lead despite shooting just 10-for-36 (27.8 percent) from the floor in the first half
3rd Quarter (46-46 Tied)
- Davis took over for the Pioneers in the third as she scored seven straight at one point and had nine of her 15 total points scored in the third quarter alone
- Both teams shot 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the floor in the period, a significant chance from the first half that saw both teams shoot below 40 percent
- SHU was in-control in the early going as Carly Stroemel hit a couple free throws and followed a few minutes later with a jumper that made it 33-26 Pioneers
- The Pioneer lead was back at five with a contested Hagood layup but the Red Flash tied the score at 39-39 less than two minutes later as Jenna Mastellone hit one of her four three-pointers on the day
- Davis had an answer every time SFU retook the lead as she scored seven straight points in a span of just 58 seconds, with all three makes either tying the score or giving SHU the lead
- Karson Swogger broke loose into the paint and got a runner to go just before the buzzer sounded on the end of the quarter, a big make for the Red Flash that tied the score heading into the fourth
4th Quarter (60-58 SFU)
- A tremendous fourth quarter that saw the lead change hands five times started with Mastellone hitting a three followed by a three-point play from Dabney
- Mastellone hit again, her fourth of the evening from deep, to give SFU a three-point lead but Hagood managed to draw a foul and hit both at the free throw line as the margin was cut down to one
- SFU continued to see the three-point shot fall as Thomas this time hit from distance but Hagood was there again, this time with a three of her own, that made it 57-56 SFU with four minutes remaining
- Heading into the final two minutes and the deficit still at one, the Pioneers found Abigail Kangudie with a mismatch down low and the junior forward hit a spinning layup in the paint and SHU went out front with a 58-57 lead
- With both teams coming up empty on their next possessions and the clock windind down under 30 seconds left, Swogger spotted Allen open right in front of the SFU bench and the go-ahead three-pointer attempt hit nothing but net as the Red Flash were suddenly leading 60-58 with just 19 seconds remaining
- With plenty of time left, the Pioneers went to Hagood who drove the lane twice but came up empty on each attempt only to see Murphy grab her second miss and put up a good look to tie the score from eight feet out but her shot attempt hit the rim and out to Allen who dribbled out the clock to send the home faithful away happy with a SFU win
NOTES:
- The Pioneers struggled on the offensive end, finishing 22-for-68 (32.4 percent) from the floor and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from three as SHU shot 30 percent or worse in three of the four quarter
- SHU continues to be limited with a short bench as just eight players dressed and six of the eight played at least 26 minutes
- Hagood has now led the team in scoring in nine of her 15 appearances on the season while she now has 11 double-digit point games and five with 20+ points
- Davis had seven rebounds to go along with her 15 points as the seven boards is tied for her second-highest single-game total on the season
- Dabney was solid all-around with nine points, three rebounds, four assists and one stela in 36 minutes
- Kangudie saw 27 minutes of action and finished with nine rebounds and two blocks to go along with her clutch go-ahead layup in the closing minutes
- As a team, SHU committed just six turnovers which is just one off a single-game program record which the Pioneers matched just two games ago against CCSU on Jan. 8
- SHU forced 16 SFU turnovers which gave the Pioneers a 17-6 edge in points off turnovers for the game
- The Pioneers were outrebounded 38-37 but grabbed 13 offensive rebounds compared to just five for the Red Flash
- Bench scoring played a large role in the outcome as the Red Flash held a 27-5 edge in bench points including a team-high 14 from Mastellone
- Of the five SFU starters, none scored in double figures
NEXT UP:
Another big test awaits the Pioneers as a Martin Luther King Jr. Day showdown with the NEC powerhouse Robert Morris (10-6, 5-0 NEC) is up next. The Colonials are the only remaining undefeated team in the NEC and are coming off a 72-50 trashing of Merrimack at home this afternoon.
