YSU women can’t slow Saint Francis shooters

LORETTO, Pa. — Saint Francis (Pa.) shot 10-for-14 on 3-pointers in the first half to build a 25-point lead and continued on to a 94-58 victory over the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Thursday night.

Three players had at least 16 points in the first 20 minutes for the Red Flash (2-6), who won their second straight game.

Britney Hodges scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the first half, and Samantha Leach and Allison Daly both had 16 in the opening period.

Brandi Brown had 16 points to lead three Penguins in double figures. Bojana Dimitrov added 13 points, and Macey Nortey had 12. Rachael Manuel had a career-high 10 rebounds and was a point shy of recording her first double-double.

Hodges and Leach combined for 23 of the Red Flash’s first 24 points, and Daly had 14 of the final 31 in the first half.

The first four minutes of the contest were back-and-forth with three lead changes and three ties before Saint Francis started to creep away. After Manuel’s bucket tied the score at 9-9 with 16:43 mark, Saint Francis scored four straight as part of a 9-2 run that give it an 18-11 lead.

Manuel hit again to get the Penguins within five, but SFU scored the next six points and 12 of the next 16 to go ahead 30-17 with 8:37 remaining. YSU scored the next four points to climb within nine points at 30-21, but Daly hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start an 8-0 run as the Red Flash started to pull away. SFU also ended the first half by scoring eight straight points, including its 10th trey of the half by Hodges.

The Penguins started the second half on a 7-2 run, but their scoring pace slowed as Saint Francis increased its lead.

YSU shot 35 percent (21 of 60) while SFU was 36 of 69 (52 percent).

YSU (0-10) will play host to Bowling Green on Monday at 11 a.m. All kids in grades 12-and-under in attendance will receive a free general admission ticket.