FARMVILLE, Va. – Reigning Northeast Conference champion and 2017-18 NCAA Tournament participant Saint Francis (Pa.) had four players finish in double figures with Jess Kovatch leading the way with 22 to escape Willett Hall with a 91-88 win over the Longwood women's basketball team Saturday afternoon.
 
Kovatch finished 8-of-12 from the floor while Karson Swogger added 13 of her 17 points in the final quarter a three-pointer that handed Saint Francis a 72-69 lead 53 seconds into the final period that it never relinquished. The Red Flash, who led by as many as seven in the final quarter, survived a final three-point attempt from Khaila Hall in the game's waning seconds that would've sent the two teams into overtime.
 
Saint Francis (Pa.) (2-4) overcame five Lancers (1-3) that finished in double figures, paced by a career-high 23 points from Ciarah Bennett, the first career 20-point game from Stephanie Guihon and the second straight double-double from Mallory Odell. In addition, Dayna Rouse scored in double figures for the second straight game with 14 points while Hall added 13 on 5-of-11 shooting and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
"Obviously, credit to Saint Francis (Pa.) for pulling that game out," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett. "It was such a back-and-forth game, so credit to them for making those last few plays a the end.
 
"I thought we took another big step forward. We had five people in double figures for the second game in a row. We're sharing the basketball and playing smart basketball in terms of getting the shots that we want. We still have some room to grow on our defense, we know that and are working hard on improving it in practice."
 
Kovatch and Swogger were joined in double figures by Courtney Zezza with 18 points, while Leah Morrow added 12 for the Red Flash in a game that saw the score tied 10 times with 15 lead changes throughout. Saint Francis (Pa.) was the first nonconference team to play in Willett Hall after making the NCAA Tournament in the year prior since Gardner-Webb in 2011, two years before Longwood joined the Big South.
 
For Kovatch, the game marked her third consecutive game with 20-plus points, as she has scored more than 2,200 points in her career.
 
The 23-point game from Bennett and the 20-point game from Guihon handed Longwood its first game with a pair of 20-point scorers since Daeisha Brown and Crystal Smith accomplished the feat in a 79-74 win over Winthrop during the 2012-13 season. In addition to combining for 43 points, the guard tandem added six assists, leading to 14 Longwood points.
 
"I'm really pleased with CeCe [Ciarah Bennett] and Steph's [Guihon] ability to run our team right now," Tillett said. "We're asking both of them to do it regularly and they're both doing it while scoring too. It's nice to have two scorers that can run our team."
 
The game for Bennett comes less than five days after she scored 19 points and added seven assists in Longwood's win Tuesday over Maryland Eastern Shore, as she has averaged 21.0 points since being inserted into the starting lineup. It marked the second time in her career that she finished with 20-plus points, as she accomplished the feat against Radford during her freshman season.
 
"I came out with a mindset that I wanted to do better than I did last game to try to help our team get another win," Bennett said. "This was an NCAA Tournament team a season ago that we played today, so it was a good game for us to test ourselves and where we are right now."
 
Meanwhile, Odell continues to impress for the Lancers to begin her sophomore season, scoring 12 and adding 14 boards to lead Longwood in the rebounding department for the third time in four games. The performance comes on the heels of Odell's first career double-double in Tuesday's win against the Hawks.
 
"A lot of rebounds that she gets is just sheer work, effort and toughness," Tillett said. "She uses every single bit that she has to get the ball for our team and that's something that our coaching staff and her teammates love about her."
 
For Guihon, the game marked her first career 20-point effort to eclipse her 17 points in her first career home game against UMass Lowell, as she made 12-of-17 free throws, added four rebounds and three assists in a career-best 38 minutes.
 
The Lancers will take their final exams to end the fall semester, before hosting Wofford Saturday, Dec. 8. That game is set for 3 p.m. opening tip.
 
"For us, the preparation time will be good because it's like having a team full of freshmen," Tillett said. "They don't know us and we don't know them, so each day is another step in terms of getting to know each other really well. All of us look forward to time in the gym to prep for the next game."
 
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