Dec. 18, 2002

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio-Miami University's women's basketball team showed remarkable resilience despite battling a cold shooting touch and double-digits deficits for much of the night, but, in the end, a late comeback charge was not enough to avoid a 74-67 loss to Saint Francis (Pa.) University.

Miami found itself in trouble early, as Saint Francis hit six of its first seven shots and stormed out to a 12-3 lead by the first media timeout. Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) ended a 10-0 Red Flash run with a 3-point field goal at 15:02, but Saint Francis, paced by Beth Swink, who sank her first five field goals, continued its torrid pace and pressed its advantage to 13 points by 11:34.

The Red Flash cooled briefly over the next five minutes, and Nicki Motto (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) brought the RedHawks to within 23-16 with a 3-pointer at 8:13. The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half, with Saint Francis leading by as many as 12 with 1:57 remaining and Miami closing to within six with 25 seconds remaining. Saint Francis, which shot 59 percent from the field, led 38-30 at the half. Miami, which kept itself in the game by forcing 15 Red Flash turnovers, shot 39 percent from the field in the half and was led by Cusick's 11 points.

Miami's shooting woes continued early in the second half, as the RedHawks slid to a 44-32 deficit by the 16:42 mark. Miami's largest deficit of the night came at 14:38 when it trailed 49-34, but the RedHawks, who went nearly six minutes without a field goal to start the half, responded with eight unanswered points, including back-to-back treys by Cusick and Motto, to slice the margin to single digits. Three-point plays by Kim Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) and Colleen Day (Independence, Ohio/Holy Name) brought Miami to within four points by the 11-minute mark.

Protecting its narrowest lead since three minutes into the game, Saint Francis responded with eight unanswered points, including two 3-pointers by Regina Schlichter. Day brought the Red and White charging back, however, tallying 10 of Miami's next 12 and knotting the score at 60-60 with a layup at the 4:47 mark. Miami took the lead briefly at 62-60 off a Jana Butler (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty-Benton) field goal, but Saint Francis took advantage of three consecutive RedHawk miscues and rebuilt a seven-point advantage with less than two minutes to play.

Day led Miami with 17 points, while Cusick, who became the third player in Miami history to attain 1,400 career points, finished with 16. Miami, which entered the game shooting less than 60 percent from the charity stripe, drained 23-of-26 free throws on the night, offsetting a dismal 36 percent night from the field. Miami fell to 4-3 on the year, absorbing consecutive losses for the first time since January of last season. Saint Francis, which shot a smoldering 60 percent from the field for the game, improved to 4-3.

The RedHawks play their third game in six days Saturday when they travel to the University of Kentucky, where they will meet the Wildcats for the eighth consecutive season. After the Kentucky game, Miami is off until Dec. 28 when it travels to Butler University.

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