BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The Long Island University women's basketball team earned a convincing, 71-53 win over Saint Francis U on Monday night at the Steinberg Wellness Center. The Sharks shot 44.8% from the floor and 46.2% from downtown while committing a season low six turnovers in the wire-to-wire win over the Red Flash.
LIU finished with three scorers in double figures in the victory. Sophomore
Brandy Thomas netted a game-high 19 points and added eight rebounds. Sophomore
Kiara Bell tied her season-high with 16 points to go with seven rebounds. Junior
Jeydah Johnson added 12 points for LIU. Graduate student
Drew Winter dished out a game-high five assists.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The Sharks opened the game with a 7-2 stretch led by three points from Bell for the early lead. Saint Francis would keep pace as the quarter wore on, eventually making it a one point game, 17-16 with 50 seconds to go in opening quarter. LIU closed the first quarter on a four-point run with two points each from Bell and junior
Mia Perkins for the 21-16 lead.
LIU carried things over to start the second quarter, with a 7-3 opening run, paced by five points from sophomore
Shyla Sanford for 28-19 lead with 8:18 to go. The Red Flash responded with an 8-0 stretch over the next few minutes, cutting the deficit to one, 28-27 with 5:26 remaining in the half. The Sharks quickly shifted momentum back in their favor with a 7-0 stretch led by three points from Perkins to push the lead to eight, 35-27 at the 2:43 mark. Saint Francis would get the final basket of the quarter on a triple for a, 35-30, LIU lead at the break.
The game stayed in the Sharks favor out of the break with a 12-4 opening stretch to the third quarter, highlighted by eight points from Johnson for a 47-34 lead, prompting a Red Flash timeout at the 4:50 mark in the third. Saint Francis recouped a little out of the timeout, with a 7-4 closing stretch in the quarter to cut the LIU lead to 10, 51-41 as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
Saint Francis would go back-and-forth with the Sharks in the start of the fourth quarter, slowly chipping the deficit down to eight at 56-48 with 5:27 to go in regulation. LIU made its final push to close out the game, using a 15-5 closing stretch for the 71-53 victory. Thomas led the Sharks with nine points in that closing stretch and Bell contributed six points on that run.
SHARK BITES
- LIU earned its second consecutive win over the Red Flash in the all-time series.
- Thomas led the Sharks in scoring for the second straight game. She scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half, finishing the game 7-of-13 from the field.
- Bell tied her career and season-high with 16 points against the Red Flash. She shot 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.
- Johnson finished in double figures for the second straight game with a 12-point effort.
- Sophomore Ryan Weise and junior Mia Perkins added seven points each.
- LIU dished out 18 assists on the night, graduate student Drew Winter recorded a game-high five assists and Weise added four dimes.
- The Sharks set a new single-game season low with just six turnovers on the night while forcing 13 Saint Francis turnovers.
- SFU held the slight advantage on the boards, 38-36 over LIU.
UP NEXT
The Sharks are set for two consecutive matchups against the league's newest member, Merrimack to open the month of February. LIU will travel to North Andover, Mass. on Saturday, February 1 for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off before taking on the Warriors in Brooklyn on Saturday, February 8.
