FOLSOM, Calif. – Senior Lauren Craig scored 20 points and senior Tia Hay added 19 to lead St. Francis to a 72-50 victory over Ponderosa Wednesday in the opening game of the Folsom-Vista Tip-Off. The Bruins entered the game ranked No. 6 in the Sacramento Bee preseason rankings.

“It felt great and gave us a lot of confidence,” said Craig. “It is going to help us moving forward because we know we can come together as a team and pull out the win.”

The Troubadours (1-0) opened a 20-11 lead after the first quarter behind five points each by juniors Janae Fairbrook and Julia Razo, who finished 11 points aided by three triples. SF posted a 10-point lead at the break.

“We really got out and ran,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We gave up some golden opportunities in the first half but we really gained the separation in the third quarter that put the stamp of a win on the game with the way we played.”

Craig and Hay combined for 20 points in the third quarter as St. Francis pulled away, out-scoring the Bruins by 17 points in the quarter.

“We came out with a lot of intensity,” said Craig. “We really pushed the ball, got fast break layups and pushed our defense.”

Fairbrook and sophomore Marlee Nicolos contributed six points in the win. Senior Aliyah Williams added four points.

The Bruins were led by 32 points from senior Danielle Craft, a Weber State signee, while Saraya Smith scored seven.

“Ponderosa has a very good team and they have two very good players,” said Pitton. “We were able to contain one of them but the other (Craft) had a very good game but she was their entire offense. We eliminated the other options. We made some adjustments that I was glad to see. If we are going to play offense, teams are going to have to score a lot of points to beat us.”

St. Francis will play Vista del Lago at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night at Folsom.

SF – Craig 20, Hay 19, Razo 11, Fairbrook 6, Nicolos 6, Williams 4, Koerwitz 2, Huffman 2, Ortiz 2. P – Craft 32, Smith 7, Blaine 4, Joy 2, Clayton 2, Ling 2, Zufelt 1.