Saint Francis' Jada Dapaa is sandwiched by Wagner's Drayah Heyward (21) and Emilija Krista Grava. / Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

LORETTO — After opening its season with 14 straight losses, the Saint Francis University women’s basketball team entered Thursday night’s Northeast Conference matchup with Wagner at DeGol Arena in the Maurice Stokes Center riding a five-game winning streak.

But the chances for the Red Flash to extend it to six ended quite early.

Wagner came out firing all cylinders and Saint Francis came out flat. Wagner built a 15-7 lead after one quarter and expanded it to 40-18 at halftime before setting things into cruise control the rest of the way en route to a 63-39 victory.

In ending a four-game losing streak of its own, Wagner (11-7 overall, 5-4 in the conference) enjoyed a balanced scoring attack led by senior forward Kem Nwabudu’s game-high 19 points, along with 11 from senior forward Emilija Krista Grava and 10 from senior guard Zhneia Thybuille.

Wagner controlled things offensively, defensively and on the boards, and also carried the intangible aspects of hustle and desire, according to Saint Francis coach Keila Whittington, whose Red Flash dropped to 5-15 and 5-4.

“Wagner came in here on a four-game losing streak, but they were hungrier tonight,” Whittington said. “They came in here and they went after us right away, and we didn’t respond in the best way.

“I think it was a matter of our starting group not bringing the energy from the start of the game to put us into a position to be successful tonight,” Whittington added.

With junior guard Drayah Heyward scoring five first-quarter points and Grava and Thybulle chipping in four apiece, Wagner got off to the 15-7 edge after one quarter.

Wagner put the game on ice by dominating the second quarter, 25-11, as freshman guard Alex Cowan scored nine points in the period, Grava added seven, and Nwabudu had six.

Wagner made 17 of 32 first-half floor shots, while Saint Francis converted just 7 of 24.

“They defended us very well, and we had a number of turnovers at the start of the game,” Whittington said. “For us to be successful, it has to begin at the defensive end of the court, and I don’t think that happened for us tonight.”

Wagner coach Terrell Coburn was pleased with his team’s effort.

“We wanted to come out and play with a lot of energy,” Coburn said. “We were on a four-game losing streak, but our team is very resilient. Our girls came out, competed, and played extremely hard tonight. I’m just really proud of our effort in both halves.”

Saint Francis put no players in double figures. Senior forward Jada Dapaa and junior forward Sam Miller led Saint Francis with six points apiece.

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School product Lili Benzel, a redshirt senior guard, had five points for the Red Flash, including a 3-point field goal that pushed her up to 10th place on the school’s all-time women’s basketball scoring list in 3-pointers with 131.

Dapaa also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Like Whittington, Dapaa pointed to Wagner’s energy level.

“We were flat, we we should have been more hungry,” Dapaa said. “Wagner came in hungry, they worked hard, and they kept fighting. That’s what gave them the ‘W.”’

Saint Francis visits Mount St. Mary’s Saturday afternoon.

“It’s back to the drawing board,” Whittington said. “We have to make sure that we want it each and every time we step on the floor, or we will continue to have results like this.”

WAGNER (11-7, 5-4): Nwabudu 9-10 1-2 19, Grava 5-11 0-0 11, Cowan 3-7 3-3 9, Thybulle 4-11 2-2 10, Heyward 3-6 1-2 8, Tokuhara 0-3 0-0 0, Loceniece 1-5 2-2 4, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Pitt 0-0 0-0 0, Ballinger 0-0 0-0 0, Saylor 0-0 0-0 0, Finley 0-1 0-0 0, Sanchez-Henry 1-1 0-0 2, Brannon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 9-11 63.

SAINT FRANCIS (5-15, 5-4): Miller 3-5 0-0 6, Dapaa 2-7 0-0 4, McLemore 1-3 2-4 4, Benzel 1-12 2-2 5, Mastellone 2-5 2-3 6, Maxwell 1-4 0-0 2, Moore 2-4 0-0 4, Laws 2-3 1-2 5, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, McConnell 1-1 0-0 3, Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Rozier 0-1 0-2 0, Kovac 0-1 0-0 0, Novosel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 7-13 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Wagner 15 25 13 10 — 63

Saint Francis 7 11 10 11 — 39

3-point goals: Wagner 2-8 (Grava 1, Heyward 1); Saint Francis 1-10 (Benzel). Assists: Wagner 14 (Thybulle 5); Saint Francis 10 (Dapaa 2, McLemore 2, Allen 2). Rebounds: Wagner 37 (Grava 9); Saint Francis 28 (Dapaa 6). Steals: Wagner 6 (Nwabadu 3); Saint Francis 6 (Dapaa 2). Turnovers–Saint Francis 18, Wagner 12.

A–487

Officials: Zoe Robbins, Katyln Tortorice, Alex Leap