Loretto, Pa. (March 2, 2009) – Junior guard Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) led the team in scoring for the second straight game and senior Shawna Scott (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill?Academy) (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill) stepped up to score in double-digits as the Saint Francis women's basketball team defeated in-state rival Robert Morris 74-58 and will enter the Northeast Conference tournament as the number three seed.
SFU completed their best season since 2004-05 by going 13-16 overall and 11-7 in the NEC. This is the first time the Red Flash have beaten the Colonials since that season. Saint Francis toppled RMU 65-50 in the NEC championship game to win the title.
The Red Flash went on a 9-2 run to start the game, as the Colonials wouldn't put one up for the first three minutes of the game. Robert Morris then went on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 13-13 with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
After Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) put the Flash ahead by a field goal, Sade Logan tied the game at 15-15. Hodges put up a jumper to again give the Red Flash the advantage, but Logan topped her with a three-pointer. Leach was sent to the line and came away with two to put the Flash ahead by one. The two teams traded field goals, with Logan making a free-throw shot to put the Colonials ahead before Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) put up a lay up to send the two teams into the locker room tied at 24-24.
Logan nailed a jumper seconds into the second half before Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) and Hodges put up consecutive buckets to put the Flash ahead by two. Grace Williams and Leach traded baskets and Kendra Williams also put up two to tie the score for the seventh time. Back-to-back three-pointers from Hodges started a 17-4 run that gave Saint Francis a 47-34 that would never return to single digits.
From there, Hodges scored a jumper and nailed the ensuing free-throw before Leach and Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) both went two-for-two at the line. Daly sunk her 50th three-point shot of the season to put the Red Flash ahead by 22 points with 6:09 left to play. She made one more with 2:42 remaining before three Colonials were sent to the free-throw line, coming away with five points to bring the score to 74-58 in favor of the Red Flash.
"In the second half, I think we really showed some things we've been doing all season long, especially in the conference season," said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl, who will coach her first career playoff game on Saturday. "Attacking the basket, our guards getting into the paint and getting on the free-throw line…. I thought it was an overall team effort. We played some really good defense, forcing them to take some shots they didn't want to take. Holding Logan to 12 points is honestly an accomplishment because she's a prolific scorer."
Hodges dominated the court for the Flash for the second consecutive game, with 18 points, six boards and two assist. Scott put up a season-high 11 points in what was her final regular season game at DeGol Arena. She also led the rebounding effort with seven as Saint Francis again out-rebounded their opponent 42-35.
Leach had 10 points and five assists, as Daly and Lilley each added 15. The team came back from a dismal 30.3 field goal percentage in the first 20 minutes to go 19-of-29 in the second, bringing their game total 46.8 percent.
Defense was the story of the day for the Red Flash, as they forced eight of RMU's 16 turnovers and limited the Logan, the NEC's leading scoring with 20 points per game, to just five field goals and a free-throw. Kendra Williams was the only other Colonial in double figures with 10 points. Robert Morris shot 36.7 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The Red Flash are slated to take on Robert Morris, who at 9-9 takes the sixth seed, at 8 p.m. on March 7 at the William H. Pitt Center on the campus of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.
"We worked hard all year to get to this point," said Hodges. "I think we worked twice as hard because our seniors haven't been to the playoffs yet. We wanted to get to the playoffs and try to win a championship for them."
