WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU women’s basketball team’s bid for a heroic comeback against the visiting Cougars of Saint Francis (9-5, 3-2) came up four points short, 75-71, Wednesday evening at Platt Arena.

Staring at a 51-33 deficit at the break, the Foresters stormed back in the second half to knot things up at 65-65 with 1:34 remaining when Dazia Drake drained her third triple of the night. Drake’s long ball capped off an 18-5 run that spanned the fourth quarter up to that point. Unfortunately for the hosts, the Cougars camped out at the charity stripe after that to can all eight of their attempts to stave off  an HU squad that had been down by as many as 20 just before halftime.

Defense was the key to Huntington’s second half rally having limited Saint Francis to just 24 points in the final 20 minutes. The last two quarters saw Culler’s crew allow just six field goals while forcing 17 turnovers. Sam Vaughn led the defensive war cry by swiping three of her four steals after intermission.

Vaughn also collected 15 points, a game-best nine rebounds and five assists over the course of the contest. Alaina Rongos topped the Foresters with 16 points which included two long balls in the final 15 seconds to keep her team within striking distance. The 6-0 forward also handed out a career- and game-high six assists. Drake finished with nine points and four assists while Erica Zook came off the bench to add eight points.

When all was said and done, the Foresters finished with four more field goals than their visitors, committed seven fewer TOs, outscored USF 36-30 from deep and tracked down 13 offensive rebounds to the Cougars’ five. The difference came at the line where Saint Francis shot 20 freebies to HU’s four.

Reganne Pate was the thorn in HU’s side. The freshman sharpshooter knocked down six three-pointers in the first quarter and added a seventh in the second to pile up 21 points in the opening 20 minutes. While she wouldn’t get off a shot in the second half, she still finished as the game’s leading scorer. Meleah Leatherman and Elise Scaggs added 14 and 12 points respectively while Crow finished with ten, with all but three of her points coming from the free throw stripe.

HU (5-3, 2-2) is back in action on Saturday when they host #9 Marian at 5:00 p.m.