BOX SCORE | GALLERY | POSTGAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

LORETTO, Pa. (March 8, 2011) – The Saint Francis University women's basketball team, once again, leaned on its defense to fight past Central Connecticut State, 68-62, on Tuesday night at DeGol Arena to punch its ticket to the Northeast Conference Championship Game for the third consecutive season.

Unlike the previous two trips to the final, Sunday's nationally televised contest will be played in the friendly confines of the Stokes Athletics Center.

“It's a reward for our fans,” said head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl. “We want to go out and perform well for them. It touches your heart when you can play well for them and they appreciate it.”

The Red Flash will draw second-seeded Monmouth in their 14th-ever championship appearance. The Hawks defeated Robert Morris, 65-62, in West Long Branch on Tuesday. The title tilt will be televised on ESPNU at 3 p.m.

Central Connecticut, at the outset of the evening, had visions of a championship of their own. The Blue Devils (19-11; 11-8 NEC) were in the midst of their best season in years and were playing in the NEC Semifinal for the third year in a row.

CCSU shot lights-out in the first half, particularly from 3-point range, where they fired at a 63.6 percent (7-of-11) clip. A few defensive adjustments for the Red Flash at the half, however, took much of the luster off of Blue Devils' night on offense.

Central's Leanne Crockett, who led her team with 14 points in the first half, was shut out in the second period while her team went 0-for-11 from long range.

“I think defensively we did a great job in the second half and shutting down what [CCSU] did in the first half, which was shoot the three extremely well,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “We didn't match up a few times in transition and they really made us pay.”

Senior Samantha Leach (Mount Sterling, Ohio/Miami Trace) furnished a game-high 25 points to lead a Flash offense that shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) on the evening. Brittany Lilley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) scored 14 and 13 points, respectively for Saint Francis.

The contest had shades of a runaway Red Flash win early on. CCSU scored the opening bucket but Saint Francis scored the next nine points in relatively short order. The Blue Devils put the brakes on the early romp, storming back to take a 10-9 lead 90 seconds later.

The Flash came back to take a brief one-point edge at the 11:21 mark on a Leach jumper, but the Blue Devils' Alexzandria Dowdy responded with a 3-pointer as CCSU kept the Flash a few points back until midway the half.

Down six with 7:11 to play in the opening period, a Lilley jumper sparked an eight-point run that culminated with a 3-pointer by Allison Daly (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) that put the Flash up 26-24.

SFU built a lead as large as six points, but the Blue Devils scored the last five points of the half to go in to the locker room down by one point, 35-34.

“Offensively, we were in good shape in the first half,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “Scoring 35 points in the first half is on par for us. So, I felt good about that.”

Neither team was able to take control in the opening minutes of the second half but a Daly 3-pointer with 10:27 left to play gave Saint Francis the lead for good.

From there, solid defense and rebounding – along with apt offense – kept Central at bay. While SFU led by as many as eight points down the stretch, the Blue Devils were able to cut their deficit to two points with 37 seconds to go.

“We got some big rebounds down the stretch but it was that defense that really forced them to take some off-balance shots,” said Robinson Fruchtl.

Shené Fleming (Dayton, Ohio, Chaminade-Julienne) and Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) each had nine rebounds for SFU. Justina Udenze led the Blue Devils with 16 points and 11 boards.

Forced to foul, CCSU twice sent Leach to the free-throw line, where she buried each of her four attempts to set the final score.

“I know both teams will be ready,” said Robinson Fruchtl. “[Monmouth coach] Steph [Gaitley] will have them ready, for sure."