Rutland, VT- The Lady Falcons traveled to Vermont last evening for their second meeting of the season with the College of Saint Joseph Fighting Saints (9-11). The Falcons defeated the Saints back on November 28th, 88-49, but the Falcons fell short in the rematch losing 52-45. A tough shooting night played a huge role in the defeat as the Falcons shot 21% from the floor hitting just 18 of their 90 shots, including 4 for 26 from behind the arc. The Fighting Saints also took advantage of foul trouble from Fisher as the Falcons were blown for 41 personal fouls in the loss.
CSJ jumped ahead right away as they took an early 9-2 lead after six minutes of play. Fisher responded by scoring seven out of the games next 11 points and pulled back to within four at 13-9 with :06 left on the clock in the first quarter. The Saints quickly got it up the floor and found Alayah Sweeney for a three-pointer. She missed, however rebounded her own shot and as time expired put in a lay-up as time expired to give the home team a 15-9 lead after one. Following a three-pointer by Choon-Hee Chae (Kyle, TX) and a bucket by Jenny-Lynn Eggers (Sonoma, CA) to start the second, the Falcons trailed by just one at the 5:23 mark, 15-14. A Saints made shot put them back up 17-14, but Piper Mali (Oro Valley, AZ) drained a three to tie the game at 17 a piece with 4:15 before the half. Sweeney matched her three the next play and the two teams would head to the locker room with Saints maintaining a one-point edge, 20-19.
Coming out of the break, the game saw numerous fouls and the first five points of the third quarter were by way of the charity stripe as the Saints went up 24-20 at the 7:34 mark. The Saints continued building their lead, hitting the game's next five points giving them their biggest lead at 29-20. The CSJ lead got up by as many as 11 in the third after Nakeeya Goodman-Boddie hit a free throw, putting her team up 35-24 with 1:52 remaining in the third. Chae got the Falcons back to within seven scoring the next four points and the two teams headed to the last quarter with the Saints up 35-28. An 8-0 run to start the fourth would give the hosts their biggest lead of the game going up 43-28 with 7:15 left in the game. Six straight points from Eggers got the Falcons back to within nine at 43-34 with 4:50 on the clock giving them some life. However, foul trouble was the difference in the last four minutes of play as the Saints final nine points came by way of the foul line, and they held on for the 52-45 win.
Chae led the Falcons with 14 points, including two three pointers, while grabbing four rebounds in the losing effort. Vivian Lara (Norwalk, CA) earned a season high 16 rebounds and contributed eight points and a pair of assists. Misha O'Neal (Tampa, FL) played well defensively off the bench for her squad as she had four thefts and four boards. For the Saints, newcomer Sweeney dropped 14 points and 11 boards for the double-double to lead her team to the victory.
The Falcons will look to bounce back as they head to Norton, MA to take on the Wheaton Lyons on Thursday evening at 7pm.