LORETTO, Pa. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team had an early lead in DelGol Arena in Loretto, Pa., Saturday afternoon, before Saint Francis U came back to take the lead right before halftime and win the game, 72-64. Junior Shanovia Dove led LIU with 24 points and 10 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. With the loss, the Blackbirds fall to 8-18 overall, 6-9 in the Northeast Conference, while SFU improves to 12-15 overall, 10-5 in the NEC.

The Blackbirds got the game off to a good start, when junior Brianna Farris drained a three to put LIU on the board first at 9:37. The Blackbirds would lead for most of the first quarter, using two free throws from senior Jolanna Ford to take their widest lead of the game, 18-12 with 42 seconds left in the period.

Saint Francis would come back to tie it up, 20-20, three minutes into the second period, but a traditional three-point play by Dove, followed by another three from Farris helped the Blackbirds widen the lead back up to 28-22. The Red Flash stayed close, however, and with three seconds left in the half, tied the game up on a free throw, and took the lead on the second, taking a 33-32 lead into the break.

Coming out of the half, sophomore DeAngelique Waithe and Dove made four straight free throws to retake the lead, 36-33 at 8:19, but then the home team started to make a run. Led by freshman Jessica Kovatch, the Red Flash would outscore LIU 15-4 over the next three minutes, with Kovatch responsible for 12 of those points. Her scoring spree put the home team up 48-40, and Saint Francis would not relinquish the lead from there. Towards the end of the third quarter, the Blackbirds closed the gap with a 9-1 run that would bring LIU within one, 51-50, with 27 seconds left in the period.

In the fourth period, however, Saint Francis widened the lead for good. One minute into the period, the Red Flash started a run that would last six minutes, and saw seven different players contribute to the 15-2 spree. The run put the home team up, 68-54 with 3:32 left to play. In the final three minutes of the game, LIU would rally to score ten points, but it was not enough, as Saint Francis took the win, 72-64.

Junior Shanovia Dove led the Blackbirds with 24 points and 12 rebounds, for her first collegiate double-double, while senior Shanice Vaughan had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Brianna Farris had eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds, while sophomore DeAngelique Waithe had nine points and seven rebounds.

Up next, the Blackbirds travel to take on Robert Morris, Monday, February 22 at 7 p.m.