BOX SCORE EMMITSBURG, Md. (March 12, 2014) – There were only 21 seconds of the game that Saint Francis University didn't lead en route to a 68-63 Northeast Conference Semifinal victory over No. 2 Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday evening.

The Red Flash (15-16) took control of the game early and never gave up the lead after the 16:12 point of the first half. It was the first contest in the 2013-14 season where SFU won while scoring under 78 points. Alexa Hayward (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) led the Flash with 20 points, the junior knocked down five triples in the game.

"It's an incredible win, we survived and advanced to the [NEC] Finals again, and I couldn't be more excited," SFU head coach Joe Haigh said.

Saint Francis has now won 16-of-16 possible NEC Semifinal games in its history and will play Keystone State rival Robert Morris on Sunday for the NEC Crown. Tip-off is slated for 3:05 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPNU. The teams split in the regular season with each team winning on its home court.

The Red Flash will also make its 16th Conference Title game appearance in the past 21 seasons, a mark that ranks second to only the University of Connecticut in all of NCAA women's basketball.

After Sunday's scoring onslaught Saint Francis didn't score until the 17:15 mark in the opening period when Hayward knocked down her first of three triples for the half. It was all three-pointers for SFU for the first six minutes, it hit four of them and held a 12-6 lead with 14:04
to play.

The Red Flash continued to hold the momentum in the first half as it extended its lead to as much as eight with less than three minutes to play. Mount St. Mary's closed out the period on a 6-2 run, and SFU led 29-25 at the break.

Saint Francis embarked on a 15-4 run to start the second half of play and extended its lead to 16 with 12:31 to play. Mount St. Mary's slowly chipped away at the lead before going on a lengthy run of its own over an eight minute span where it scored 19 points to SFU's nine.

A lay-in and foul shot by Corissa Archer (Clermont, Fla./East Ridge) halted the Mountaineers (19-13) momentum midway through its run and gave SFU back some life.
Saint Francis was up by seven when senior Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) committed her fifth foul and was forced to sit for the remainder of the game. The

Mountaineers battled back to within one with 20 seconds left, but sound free throw shooting from Hayward and Aisha Brock (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy) sealed the victory for SFU.

"We played a good second half to get out to a lead, but Mount [St. Mary's] battled back, they are a great team. When they turned up the pressure the last few minutes we really had to dig deep to pull this one out," Haigh continued.

Rebecca Keegan (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) and Alli Williams (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) each totaled nine rebounds, Williams also added 16 points. Brock posted 13 points off the bench.
Shaqeia Stokes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) registered four points and six rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass.

The Red Flash shot 52% (14-27) in the second half and has now won four straight games.

Saint Francis U has an all-time NEC Finals record of 11-4, it has played Robert Morris once previously in the Finals in 2005. The Red Flash won that meeting 65-50.