BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY

LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 28, 2011) – With 3.7 seconds to play in overtime Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) provided the game-winning bucket to lift the Saint Francis University women's basketball team to its first Northeast Conference regular season title since the 2004-05 campaign.

The, 62-61, win over Mount St. Mary's Monday night at DeGol Arena also ensured homecourt advantage for the Red Flash for the duration of the upcoming NEC Tournament.

For much of the night, however, the heavily-favored Flash seemed destined for the runner-up position.

Saint Francis (19-11; 14-4 NEC), which entered the game averaging a league-leading 68.8 points per game, used its defense down the stretch to overcome its unusually cold-shooting offense and the clutch production of the Mountaineers.

“All I can say is 'wow,'” said Flash head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “We didn't play as well as I would have liked until the last six minutes of regulation, then the overtime. We played some really great defense down the stretch to cut that lead and get it back to a tie.”

“We just gutted it out.”

The Mount (8-21; 5-13 NEC) quickly doubled a five point halftime lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Flash countered with a 7-0 run of their own. The Mountaineers went on to score the game's next nine points to run their advantage to 12 (47-35).

Saint Francis broke up the run with pair of Lilley free throws, however The Mount ran the score to 52-37 moments later. The Flash – who shot a tepid 31.8 percent on the night – found themselves down by 15 with 9:35 to play in regulation.

Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) scored the game's next five points to spark an overtime-forcing 17-2 Saint Francis tear that was capped by another pair of Lilley foul shots.

Leach – who scored a game-best 26 points – opened the extra frame with a 3-pointer that gave the Flash their first lead since the 16:03 mark of the first half. SFU twice surrendered three-point advantages in OT.

“Sam carried us most of the game offensively and 'B' finished it. She's a great athlete,” Robinson Fruchtl said of Leach and Lilley, respectively. “[Lilley] is our best athlete and she wanted the ball.”

Lilley finished with 11 points and seven assists. Freshman Alexandra Williams chipped in 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year.

Both teams combined to shoot 2-for-11 through the first five minutes of action, but the Mountaineers eventually heated up to shoot 50 percent (12-for-24) in the frame. The Flash offense performed well enough to keep the game within reach, converting on 10 of 30 attempts (33.3 percent) from the field.

Only three SFU players were in on the scoring until a Shené Fleming (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) layup with 1:41 to go in the half. Leach tossed in a team-high 12 in the period, as the Flash went into the locker room on the short end of a 33-28 tally.

The Red Flash will open postseason play on Saturday when they welcome #8 Fairleigh Dickinson for a 2 p.m. contest.