St. Francis (PA) Falls to Purdue, 78-59, Despite Tight First Half at NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament - NEC Skip To Main Content
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SFU's Beth Swink<br> (Robert Scheer/The Star)
SFU's Beth Swink
(Robert Scheer/The Star)

St. Francis (PA) Falls to Purdue, 78-59, Despite Tight First Half at NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament

SFU Junior Beth Swink Scored a Game-Best 28 Points.

3/21/2004


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By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Shereka Wright and Erin Lawless scored 17 points apiece and Purdue ended an upset bid by St. Francis with a strong second half that produced a 78-59 victory Sunday night in the first round of the NCAA women's tournament.

Trailing by two with under six minutes to play in the first half, second-seeded Purdue (28-3) finally took control with a 15-2 run spanning halftime and moved into a second-round game Tuesday night against seventh-seeded Villanova.

St. Francis (25-6), seeded 15th, never recovered from Purdue's burst and saw its 20-game winning streak end.

Erika Valek added 15 points for third-ranked Purdue, which got a bonus from Lawless' scoring. She had been averaging only 6.7 points.

Beth Swink made all 10 of her shots and led St. Francis with 28 points.

St. Francis fell to 0-8 in first-round games, but the Pennsylvania school was much more competitive in this one after losing its first seven NCAA tournament games by an average margin of 39 points.

Karen Hewitt, a 5-foot-6 senior, was mainly responsible for keeping it close early. Tormenting the Boilermakers with her quickness and penetration, she had 10 first-half points on 4-for-5 shooting and handed out three assists. She finished with 12 points and seven assists.

A No. 15 seed has never beaten a No. 2 seed since the women's tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, but St. Francis looked capable during its solid first half.

With Hewitt getting baskets or setting up teammates, the Red Flash stayed with the Boilermakers step for step. They recovered from a 6-0 deficit to take a 22-20 lead on Hewitt's 15-foot jumper with 5:39 left.

There were three ties after that, the last at 27-all on Swink's basket inside. Katie Gearlds then connected from under the basket for Purdue and teammate Beth Jones stole the ball, setting up a bucket by Valek that made it 31-27. The Boilermakers led from then on.

They scored the final three points of the half after St. Francis drew to 32-30, then pulled away in the second half despite an inauspicious start. Wright missed a breakaway layup in the opening minute, but she made a leaner the next time she touched the ball and the Boilermakers dominated from then on.

Emily Heikes got three baskets inside as Purdue stretched its lead to 47-32. A 3-pointer by Lawless started an 8-2 run that made it 59-40, and the Boilermakers led by as many as 21.