BOX SCORE

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Feb. 25, 2012) – After going neck-and-neck for 35 minutes, Sacred Heart used a 9-1 run to end a Saint Francis upset bid and hang on for a, 66-61, Northeast Conference victory at the William H. Pitt Center on Saturday.

The Red Flash trailed by three after an Allison Smith (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) layup with 4:40 to play before the Pioneers' Morgan Merriman answered with a fast-break layup to spark the decisive stretch.  Sacred Heart ran its advantage to, 65-54, by the 55-second mark to build a lead that would prove insurmountable.

The Flash (13-15; 10-7 NEC) scored seven of the game's final eight points to set the final.

“We just couldn't get over the hump,” SFU head coach Susan Robinson Fruchl.  “We had the lead several times but we just gave up too many wide-open shots.”

“[On offense] I felt we turned the ball over way too much.  You can't do that against one of the top teams in the conference because they'll make you pay every time.  I know we only had 16 but a lot of them were timely.”

The Pioneers exchanged those 16 SFU miscues for 18 points.  Sacred Heart committed 13 turnovers.

Sophomore Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) racked up a game-high 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to register her 11th double-double of the season.  Rookie Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) was the only other Flash player in double figures with 11.

Sacred Heart (21-7; 14-3 NEC), which ended the evening in sole possession of the NEC's top spot, was led by freshman Gabrielle Washington who dropped 25 points.  Senior Callan Taylor posted a double-double thanks to 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Pioneers jumped out to an eight-point lead over the game's first three minutes but the Red Flash responded with a 16-to-6 run capped by a Nickia Gibbs (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) 3-pointer that gave SFU its first lead of the game, 26-25.

Sacred Heart would answer to go into the locker room with a, 30-26, halftime lead.

Saint Francis will close out its season on Monday at Quinnipiac.  The game is slated to get underway at 7 p.m.