Loretto, Pa. (March 7, 2010) – With 10.7 seconds left in the game, senior guard
Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal) put up the most important shot of her career, sinking a three-pointer to lead the Saint Francis women's basketball team to an 80-79 upset of the top-ranked Robert Morris Colonials in the Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals on Sunday afternoon at DeGol Arena.
The Red Flash will now advance to the NEC Championship game for the second consecutive season.
The win snapped a 13-game winning streak by the Colonials, and improved SFU's record in the NEC Semifinals to 12-3. The Red Flash will take on the winner of the Long Island/Central Connecticut State game next Sunday at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Red Flash turned the ball over on their first possession, but Kristine Silaraja was called for the charge on the Colonials' first chance, giving the ball back to the Flash. Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) got the Flash started with a three from the corner before Vega Gimeno-Martinez put RMU on the board with a short jumper in the paint. Hodges sunk a three soon after as SFU took an early 6-2 lead.
Monica Jones drove in for a lay-up, cutting the deficit to just two. Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) picked up her first points of the game at the free-throw line, keeping SFU ahead by four. Mary Durojaye added in two more in the pain, bringing the Colonials within two. Hodges added in two more points to give SFU a 10-6 lead with 13 minutes remaining.
Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) grabbed a big rebound and then put her first points of the board on a jumper before Durojaye went to the free-throw line for two. Daly put up her second three of the night, but Angela Pace battled back with a lay-up. Hodges put up another three soon after, putting the Flash up by eight. Daly made it nine straight points off of threes by sinking another triple from the foul line extended, stretching the SFU lead to 21-10 with 9:04 remaining.
Pace was sent to the free-throw line, coming away with just a point before Lilley grabbed the rebound to give the ball back to SFU. However, the Red Flash couldn't do anything with it and it went back to the Colonials, who picked up four straight points from Gimeno- Martinez.
Shene Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne) was fouled making a lay-up, but couldn't complete the three-point play. Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) got to try for two at the charity stripe, coming away with one. Gimeno-Martinez hit a three to cut the RMU deficit to just six, but Daly added in her fourth of the day to keep the Flash up by nine. Gimeno- Martinez put up two more, countered by Smith with two of her own to make it 29-20 in favor of the Red Flash with 3:59 remaining in the first.
Silaraja hit a three-pointer to bring the Colonials within six, with Pace added in two more on a jumper from the paint. Smith put up two for the Red Flash after grabbing a rebound from a miss by Daly. Pace countered her by driving in for two, but then fouled Leach. Leach went to the line for the one-and-one, coming away with two points. Hodges put up a three after a steal, once again putting SFU ahead by nine with 90 seconds remaining in the first half.
Smith went up for two to bring the Red Flash lead into double digits, with Daly adding in her fifth three pointer of the night. Yohanna Morton put up a show that was originally counted as a three-pointer, but was reviewed and counted as a two instead, giving SFU a 41-29 lead at halftime.
Hodges put up a three-pointer to start the second half, countered by Durojaye's two points. Johnson added in a lay up on the next possession, and the Flash forced a turnover by the Colonials that resulted in Daly's fifth three-pointer of the game. Pace drove in for two points, with Silaraja adding in two on a fast break. Hodges then stuck back with a fast break lay up of her own to keep the Red Flash ahead 51-35.
Pace was fouled going in for a lay-up, and completed the three-point play at the line. Jones put up a short jumper before Smith sunk a long one to keep the Flash up by 13. Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) put up her first two points of the game on a jumper Daly then tied the Northeast Conference Tournament record for three-point shots, sinking her seventh of the day. Leach added in one of her own after Pace put two up for the Red Flash. Jones nailed a triple from the corner before Daly broke the record for three-pointers in a game in the NEC Postseason, tying the SFU school record with eight.
Silaraja went to the line in place of an injured Destiny Harrison, making one. Pace then got a steal and was fouled making the fast break lay-up, picking up a third point at the line. Pace added in two more from the paint before Leach was sent to the free-throw for two points. Silaraja put up two before two consecutive jump balls gave possession back to SFU.
Pace drove in for two and was again fouled, adding in the third point at the line to cut the deficit to eight. Pace earned another trip to the line soon after, but could only come up with a point. Smith then tapped in a miss by Leach to keep SFU ahead by nine before Bianca Hooten scored two for the Colonials, though the Flash kept the 68-61 lead with 7:37 remaining.
Johnson was fouled by Gimeno- Martinez, and went to the line for two points before Pace added in two more on a short jumper. Gimeno- Martinez countered by sinking a three. Leach put up a quick two points, and picked up a third point at the free-throw line. Jones was the next to earn a trip to the line while making a lay-up, but couldn't make the free-throw. Smith added in two more as the Flash quickly moved up the court, and was countered by Pace with two more. Leach drove in for a lay up before Hooten sunk a three to bring the Colonials within four with 2:23 remaining in the game.
Pace was again fouled going in for a lay up, making the lay up to bring RMU within one. Daly then earned a trip to the line, but couldn't come up with any points. Jones then gave the Colonials a one-point lead on a jumper in the paint with just over a minute to go. Durojaye was sent to the free-throw line, coming up with a point.
It looked like all hope was lost for the Red Flash as the Colonials led 79-77 with less than a minute to go. Hodges sunk her fifth three-pointer of the day with 10.7 seconds left in the game to put SFU ahead again 80-79. Paced missed a lay up, with Jones grabbing the rebound. Jones went up for the lay up and missed as well, with the ball bouncing out off of a Red Flash player. After another official review, 0.2 seconds were put back onto the game clock with Robert Morris inbounding the ball. The Colonials were able to get it in bounds, but couldn't get the low pass up as the Saint Francis Red Flash took the 80-79 win to complete the upset and advance to the Northeast Conference Championship game for the second consecutive season.
Daly had a team-high 24 points, all of which came off three-point shots, but it was Pace who led all players with 30 points. Hodges added in 19 points and six rebounds, while Leach finished the game just a point shy of her 1,000th career point with 14.
Smith finished with a career day, just missing a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Lilley had two points, but put her name in the NEC Tournament record book with a career-high 10 assists, good enough for fourth all time in the Northeast Conference postseason.
Though the Flash were out-rebounded 34-33 by the Colonials, they took advantage of their 14 offensive boards with 15 second chance points. They also took advantage of RMU's 17 turnovers, scoring 23 points off of the Colonials' miscues.
Gimeno-Martinez finished with 17 points for Robert Morris and led the RMU rebounding effort with eight boards. Jones had 10 points and three steals.
The Red Flash went 28-of-62 for 45.2 percent from the field, and set a new single-game NEC Tournament record by sinking 14 three-pointers. They shot 42.4 percent from beyond the arc and 58.8 percent at free-throw line.
"My hat's off to Robert Morris; Sal and the staff, they had an unbelievable NEC year, 17-1, and they are tough," said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl, who will take her team to the championship game for the second time in her three-year career. "This game was a lot like the first game we played here. We were up at half, and they chipped away and obviously beat us in overtime. Angela Pace is a great player, very deserving of all the honors she's received. Our kids just hung tough. We played with no fear, and that's kind of been our thing, which they came up with. This I guess is seven games now that we've won in a row, something like that. The last play, we didn't get the initial look that we wanted, but we just kept playing. That's something we work on every day. A simple penetration and kickout, and Hodges spotted up beautifully and knocked it down. It was a great battle to see and great for the conference."
Quotes from the post-game press conference
Saint Francis Head Coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl …
Opening statement…
You guys saw a great game. My hat's off to Robert Morris, Sal and the staff, they had an unbelievable NEC year, 17-1, and they are tough. This game was a lot like the first game we played here. We were up at half, and they chipped away and obviously beat us in overtime. Angela Pace is a great player, very deserving of all the honors she's received. Our kids just hung tough. We played with no fear, and that's kind of been our thing, which they came up with. This I guess is seven games now that we've won in a row, something like that. The last play, we didn't get the initial look that we wanted, but we just kept playing. That's something we work on every day. A simple penetration and kickout, and Hodges spotted up beautifully and knocked it down. It was a great battle to see and great for the conference.
On her team withstanding the Robert Morris run in the second half…
We talked about that at halftime, but at the same time, we played with no fear. They're going to make a run, and we had to make a run. We answered most things through most of the half, which was really good to see. They have tremendous athletes, and they did a great job of getting some threes, getting some layups, but I thought we did a good job of coming back and scoring ourselves.
On her team's new zone offense instilled today…
We put in a new little zone offense and just really allowed the players to read a lot of things and find the open person. When a team plays zone you are going to have to hit some shots. We didn't come in with the design of saying we were going to take 33 threes, there's no number, but if you're open you take it. We did end up the conference season the best 3-point shooting team in the conference as far as number of makes per game. I think it was seven per game that we made, and we made 14 today, which we are capable of. We just said we gotta go for it, because it's Janie and Hodges' senior year, so we gotta go for it.
St. Francis'
Britney Hodges (Dayton, Ohio/Mount de Chantal)
On her taking the leadership reins and knocking down the game-winner…
I give it all to my teammates.
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) kind of screened two people and got me open, and I just had to have confidence and shoot a three. It's what I do, shoot threes.
On the team's mindset when Robert Morris took the lead late in the second half…
Sam said we need a stop, and that's what we did. We pulled together as a team and got the stop that we needed.
St. Francis'
Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity)
On the team's mindset when Robert Morris took the lead late in the second half…
I think the thing that we have done for the past couple of games is that we have always been committed to what we were learning and what we've been taught. Every time we get down, in every situation, we've always looked at each other and always been like 'we're confident, we can do this.'
On her superb shooting performance…
It all comes down to passing and finding the open player.
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) had 10 assists today, and that was amazing, especially with just being an off-guard, a combo guard. Everybody on the court was just looking for each other. We had confidence in each other's shots.
St. Francis'
Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace)
On the team's mindset when Robert Morris took the lead late in the second half…
I just remember saying that if you have any doubt in your mind, sub yourself out right now. I had all the confidence in the world in every one of us. It was definitely a confidence issue, and we definitely have confidence.
Robert Morris Head Coach Sal Buscaglia
Opening statement …
First of all, congratulations to St. Francis. They came out on fire. They couldn't miss, really. They shot the lights out. They really stepped it up with their shooting. But, on the other hand, I thought more about my team. We were way down, we usually don't play man-to-man defense, but we switched to man because, to St. Francis' credit, they shot the ball so well, so we had to get the tempo of the game up. I thought that worked really well for us. Basically, it came down to one shot that they hit. I think they were getting very nervous because we were coming back and then we take the lead, and we missed a free throw at the end. Quite honestly, we had three looks at the basket, and they just didn't go for us. I'm proud of them. Thirteen straight wins, we won 22 or 23 games with seven losses, excluding this one. We were the No. 1 seed, we won the regular season, and how could you not be proud of that? Kudos to St. Francis, but also kudos to my team for their efforts.
On if the team was overconfident coming into the game…
There's no way. In a conference tournament, anything can happen. No way were we overconfident.
Robert Morris' Angela Pace
On carrying her team in the second half…
Yeah, I knew we were down and we were going to have to catch up as much as we could. It was a dogfight from the beginning. All I know is that I played hard and my team played hard for 40 minutes.
On the team's poise in coming back from a double-digit deficit…
Like I said, it was a dogfight. We all wanted it, but we just came up short at the end.
