STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Feb. 27, 2010) – Head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl led the Saint Francis women's basketball team to a 78-68 win over Wagner on Saturday afternoon on Staten Island, marking SFU's first .500 season since 2004-05 and the first of Robinson Fruchtl's career.
Saint Francis will take on Monmouth at 2:30 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Northeast Conference tournament. All quarter-and semifinal games will be held at DeGol Arena.
The Red Flash finish the season at 11-7 in the NEC and 14-14 overall.
The Seahawks scored right off the tip with a layup by Meghan Mahoney, but the Red Flash countered with two points in the paint from Janie Killian (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills). Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) added in two points before Marie-Laurence Archambault put up a short jumper as the Seahawks took a 4-3 lead with 18:20 left to play in the first half. Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) put up her first two points of the day at the free-throw line before Ashley Olsen completed a three-point play. Olsen added in another layup and two free-throws, then added in two more points as Wagner took a 13-5 lead with 14:45 remaining in the first half.
However, the Red Flash would work on the deficit, first with a layup from Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and then a jumper from Hodges. Lilley sunk two at the charity stripe, but Mahoney sunk a three-pointer to bring the Seahawks' lead up to five. Leach was the next to earn a trip to the free-throw line, taking two, before Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) got a turn and earned a point to tie the game up.
Olsen hit two more at the free-throw line, with Kelley Clark adding in a layup to give Wagner a 20-16 advantage. Back-to-back threes from Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) gave the lead to the Red Flash, but Olsen was able to tie things up for the fourth time on a jumper. Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) put up a short jumper in the paint that started an 11-2 SFU scoring run that put the Flash up by seven on a free-throw by Leach.
Stephanie McBride ended the scoring streak with a three-pointer to cut the Wagner deficit to six before a layup by Daly brought it back up to eight. Killian sunk two free-throws to take the lead into double digits, but a three from John'a Poole soon after cut it to seven. Clark put up two to at the free-throw line before Johnson took a trip, coming back with a point. Poole made a layup with less than a minute left to cut the WC deficit to four, but a buzzer-beater by Johnson would give SFU the 40-34 lead at halftime.
Leach struck first in the second half off of a fast break before Poole was able to put up two points a little less than three minutes in. Clark hit two at the charity stripe before a triple from Daly put the SFU lead back up to seven. Leach put up a layup off of a pass from Hodges, and was countered by a three from Mahoney. Hodges struck back with her own three 50-41 with 12:30 remaining.
McBride hit a jumper on a fast break before Mahoney added three more to make it a two possession game. Hodges got the ball on a fast break and added in two points, with Daly sinking yet another three-pointer to put SFU ahead by nine again. Mahoney cut the lead to seven, before Olsen hit a layup to bring it down to five. Leach and Olsen traded points to keep the Flash ahead by five, with a three-pointer from Hodges putting SFU ahead 60-52 with 5:53 remaining in the game.
McBride added in anther layup, followed immediately by a jumper from Leach off of another pass from Hodges, who ended the day with eight assists. Clark went to the free-throw line to put up two more, before Leach got a chance, also going two-for-two. Archambault put up a layup to cut the deficit to just four.
Down by six with just over a minute to go, the Seahawks had no choice but to foul the Red Flash, sending Hodges, Johnson and Lilley to the charity stripe for seven points and the 78-68 win.
SFU shot 37.1 percent from the field and were led by Leach's 21 points. Hodges ended the night with 19 points, with Daly adding in 15 of her own. Johnson led the rebounding effort with nine boards as the Red Flash outrebounded the Seahawks 43-32.
Olsen's 18 points paced Wagner, with Mahoney adding in 15 points as well.
The Red Flash scored 21 points off of Wagner's 23 turnovers, and outscored the Seahawks 11-6 on the fast break.
