BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2011) – Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) exploded for 25 points to lead Saint Francis to a thrilling, 63-60, Northeast Conference win over Long Island at the Wellness, Recreation & Athletic Center on Tuesday evening.
The Red Flash (7-7; 2-0) led by double digits early on in the contest, but the NEC preseason-favorite Blackbirds (8-5; 0-2) scraped their way back into the game by the intermission to setup a back-and-forth second half.
“We knew LIU would be ready and they played a great game,” said SFU coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “Obviously, starting out the game the way we did gave us a lot of confidence but I think we answered every run they put to us and that's a tribute to our senior leadership.”
With the scored knotted up at 54 with 2:18 to play, a Leach layup and a three by Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) on back-to-back possessions gave the Flash a seemingly sizeable lead after both teams combined to score only eight points over the previous six minutes.
A pair of made one-and-ones by LIU's Chelsi Johnson and Ashley Palmer trimmed the margin to 59-58 with 49 seconds left but a clutch Lilley jumper at the 23 second mark extended the SFU lead to three points.
The Blackbirds' Kiara Evans answered with a quick layup to close the gap to one once more before Leach hit two free throws to re-extend the differential to three points.
Long Island got the ball back with 11 seconds to play but the Flash defense held, allowing only an NBA-range three-point attempt which fell to the court as time expired.
“[Our defense] was key,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “This was a defensive battle. Both teams were held at 52 points for quite a long time and it was kind of a slugfest back and forth just to see who was going to gut it out and get it done.”
Saint Francis led by as many as 12 points in the first half, after racing out to a 17-5 advantage six-and-a-half minutes into the game. The Flash managed to keep the Blackbirds at arm's length for most of the period until a seven-point run LIU run cut the Saint Francis edge to three.
A Krystal Wells jumper at the 18 second mark tied the score at 34 but a Shené Fleming layup with two seconds to go gave SFU a 36-34 going into the locker room.
Lilley scored 17 points on the night, with Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) close behind with 10. Evans paced the Blackbirds with 15 points.
Freshman Alexandra Williams pulled down a team-season-high 12 rebounds.
Saint Francis visits Wagner on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.
