FULL PREGAME RELEASE (pdf)

Saint Francis welcomes Central Connecticut State to DeGol Arena on Tuesday evening with a trip to the 2011 Northeast Conference Championship game on the line.

The Red Flash will try for their fourth-straight win against Blue Devils in the 7 p.m. contest.  Saint Francis is 18-6 against CCSU since the series began during the 1997-98 season.  The Flash won the team's only meeting this season – a 68-51 decision on Feb. 7.

The two teams have met once before in postseason play.  Two years ago to the day, Saint Francis downed CCSU, 73-62, in an NEC Semifinal game in Loretto.

With its tournament-opening win on Saturday, Saint Francis clinched its first 20-win season since the 2004-05 season.  The Red Flash are 37-6 all-time in Northeast Conference Tournament play and have won six of seven league tournament games under the tutelage of NEC Coach of the Year Susan Robinson Fruchtl.  Her teams are 2-1 against CCSU in the Stokes Center.

An SFU win on Tuesday could also set a new program record for home wins in a season (13).


RED FLASH NEC'S RPI LEADER
The NCAA released its first official RPI rankings on Jan. 2 where the Red Flash debuted at 132.  However, after rolling to an 14-4 record in Northeast Conference play, Saint Francis is currently ranked 90th.  The NEC's next highest RPI belongs to Monmouth (95).


RED FLASH FANS OFFICIALLY THE NEC'S BEST
Despite ranking among the smallest Division I institutions in the country, Saint Francis has outdrawn every other school in the Northeast Conference in terms of attendance.  A total of 8,264 fans have come through the turnstiles at home games this season (636/game).  The paid attendance has twice topped 1,000 fans this year – Dec. 1's date with Pittsburgh drew 1,237, while the Robert Morris game drew 1,214.


FLASH FARING WELL IN CLOSE GAMES
With the exception of Jan. 29th's three-point setback at Sacred Heart, the Red Flash have fared reasonably well in close games this season.  SFU is 3-1 in four games decided by three points or fewer and is 2-0 in two overtime tilts this season.


LILLEY AMONG NCAA ASSIST LEADERS, IN LINE TO SCORE 1,000th
Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)'s 15 assists against Kent State tied for the third-most in an NCAA?Division I game so far this season.  As of March 5, her 5.3 helpers per contest also ranked 30th in the country and led the Northeast Conference.  With 960 career points, the  junior stands an excellent chance to become SFU's 21st millennial scorer.


ROBINSON FRUCHTL ADVANCES ON CAREER WINS LIST
Saint Francis head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl earned her 58th career victory with March 5's triumph over Fairleigh Dickinson, passing up to her predecessor Jill Poe (2003-07) in career wins.  Poe went 57-62 in her four seasons at the helm.


ROOKIE WILLIAMS SHOWING 'FLASHES OF?GREATNESS'
Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) per coach Robinson Fruchtl has shown 'flashes of greatness' on several occasions throughout the year.  The freshman has averaged over 10 points per game since exploding for 29 points against Kent State on Dec. 4.  After joining the starting lineup a game later in place of injured Shené Fleming, Williams scored 22 points at Howard.  She has three double-doubles this season with the most recent coming vs. Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 28 (10 pts/11 reb).  With 188 boards, she is currenly SFU's no. two rebounder.


Leach IN?FIFTH SPOT ON SFU SCORING LIST
With 1,571 career points, Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) currently stands in fifth place on the SFU all-time scoring list.  Leach became the school's seventh 1,500-point scorer by tossing in 25 points at Fairleigh Dickinson (2/19/11).  The 5-10 guard also became the 19th Red Flash player to break the 1,000-point barrier with her first bucket of 2010 NEC title game at Long Island.


RED FLASH RAMPING UP HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
With an 12-1 record at DeGol Arena the Red Flash have tied the program record from home wins in a season.  Saint Francis compiled 8-5 records in Loretto in 2009-10 and 2008-09.  SFU is 32-21 at home under Susan Robinson Fruchtl and is 27-11 at DeGol Arena over the past three seasons.


Magic Numbers
Move over, three.  The Red Flash are 13-0 when scoring 70 or more points this season.  Conversely, Saint Francis is winless (0-7) when being held to 60 points or fewer.  SFU is also 13-0 when outscoring an opponent in the paint and is (nonsensically) 5-0 against NEC competition when being outrebounded... including on 3/5 against FDU.


DALY CLIMBS TO 13th PLACE?ON?SCORING LIST
With 1,140 points, senior Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) currently ranks 14th on the Saint Francis career scoring list.  By scoring an even 14 points in Jan. 10's 75-62 win over Mount St. Mary's, Daly became Saint Francis' 20th 1,000-point scorer.