St. Francis Brooklyn Athletics

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – The St. Francis Brooklyn women's basketball team (9-8, 3-2) fell just short against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University (9-7, 5-0) on Saturday afternoon. The Terriers trailed by more than 15 points on the afternoon, and rallied back in a team effort but could not complete the task at hand in the final seconds of the contest. The Pioneers move to 5-0 in conference play and two ahead of St. Francis.

The Terriers began the contest with aspirations set on a tie of first place in the conference with the Colonials of Robert Morris University. A promising start began with an open jumper from Dominique Ward from just behind the charity stripe. The game would then lean in the direction of the Pioneers. The key to success would be to contain Katherine Haines. The graduate forward would end the first quarter shooting five-of-six from the field in as many tries. The Terriers had other plans, as freshman guard Ebony Horton would sink home a triple from the right wing to narrow the deficit to seven.

The second quarter featured milestones being broken by individual Terriers. Senior guard Amy O'Neill recorded career assist number 248, which moves her ahead of Justine Paxhia and into 12th place all-time on the program's assist list. The Australian native would achieve this feat on a pass down low for Abby Anderson. St. Francis Brooklyn continued to rally as they pulled within one with a Mia Ehling triple from the left wing. This shot from the redshirt junior would put her team on a 5-0 run. The Pioneers would come back responding as the opposition would finish the half on a 6-0 run.

The Terriers would exit the locker room to begin the third quarter with a deficit of six and would continue to grow. The first points of the stanza would come at the 5:56 mark when Amy O'Neill drew a foul against Adrianne Hagood. O'Neill would convert both shots from the line to narrow the lead to 16. Sacred Heart would win the battle in the paint in the third quarter with Haines scoring 10. O'Neill would finish the quarter scoring nine, and assisting on two. 

Back and forth scoring would be the answer of the third quarter, but not so much in the fourth quarter, as the final stanza was a one-sided contest for the home team. Another milestone being broken was senior Maria Palarino grabbing three rebounds (557) to surpass Christine Cunningham for 15th all-time on the career rebounds list. The Terriers would begin the fourth on a 7-0 scoring run for roughly 5:30. Points scored included Jade Johnson, Amy O'Neill scoring seven, and Maria Palarino converting one from the line to narrow the lead to five. Down the stretch, the contest would become a nail-biter as St. Francis would go on another 7-0 scoring run to narrow the lead to just a lone point. The final play came down to a missed jump-shot with 17 seconds to go. St. Francis subsequently would fall to the Pioneers and remain in the passenger seat of the Northeast Conference standings.

St. Francis Brooklyn won the battle of the bench, by outscoring the Pioneers 26-11. The Terriers also out-rebounded Sacred Heart 42-34 and would be even with 17 assists on the afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 
St. Francis Brooklyn – 66 | Sacred Heart 68
•    Senior guard Amy O'Neill scored 20 points (career high), grabbed nine rebounds, and tallied nine assists on the afternoon in 40 minutes of game action.
•    Sophomore forward Ally Lassen etched 14 points into the scoring column while grabbing eight rebounds. She would convert 7-of-16 from the field in 30 minutes of action.
•    Senior guard Maria Palarino continued her quest to 1,000 career points as she scored seven. Palarino concludes the day just 20 points away from the milestone.
•    Senior forward Lorraine Hickman scored two baskets and grabbed a lone rebound in 10 minutes of play. The longest appearance in her return from injury.
•    Junior guard Jade Johnson tallied 8 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She would also secure an assist on a basket in 36 minutes of play this afternoon.
•    Sophomore forward Abby Anderson secured five points while assisting on one basket, and grabbing a rebound. Anderson would convert two from the field in three tries.

UP NEXT:
The Terriers travel down the road to face LIU Brooklyn in the first "Battle of Brooklyn" contest of the 2018-19 season on Monday, January 21 at noon.