BROOKLYN, N.Y.- Saint Francis led wire-to-wire for nearly the entire game for the second-straight contest and withstood a St. Francis Brooklyn rally to secure a 83-76 win to move to 3-1 in NEC play.

Jessica Kovatch (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) led three players in double figures with 26 points including 11 for 11 from the line on Monday. Halee Adams (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) had 16 points including a clutch three with 90 seconds left and Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds.

"I thought we closed out the game well tonight, made some big shots late," coach Joe Haigh said. "Credit St. Francis Brooklyn, they are a great team. We knew that they would have a run late, our defense made a couple of key plays and got some big stops."

One of the biggest plays of the game was a charge drawn by Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md./Western (Hampton U)). The graduate student drew the offensive foul with 23 seconds left that helped to seal the win. Ward was limited by foul trouble, but contributed three rebounds, an assist and a steal in addition to drawing two charges.

"Brielle always does some things that don't show up in the box score," Haigh said. "That was a big play for us late."

The Red Flash led nearly the entire game with the last Terrier lead coming at the 6:50 mark of the first quarter at 5-4. A Kovatch three put the Flash up 7-5, and the Terriers would never lead again. SFU would lead on a number of occasions down the first quarter stretch and an Adams three put SFU up 21-18 at the end of the opening stanza.

SFU's defense set the tone early in the second quarter, holding SFBK to just two points in the first four minutes. The Flash would open up an eight-point advantage on lay-ins by Courtney Zezza (Plum, Pa./Plum) and Kovatch to make it 30-22. The Terriers would chip away at the Red Flash lead by holding SFU scoreless for nearly four minutes, but could only crawl within two at 32-30. A Samiah Bethel (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy) steal and score closed the half for the Flash, giving them a 38-34 halftime edge. The junior had another solid game, posting eight points four assists and a pair of steals.

Adams and Kovtach each had a quick bucket to start the third as the Flash scored the first seven points of the half to open up an 11-point lead at 45-34. SFBK responded with a 10-0 run of their own to cut the lead back down to one. Behel broke the run with a lay-in and jump started the Flash's second run of the quarter. SFU responded to the Terriers' run with an 11-0 outburst headlined by Reese's seven points and giving SFU a 56-44 lead. The Flash would keep the lead around double-digits as the teams traded hoops for the final two minutes. A late Terrier free throw made it 63-55 Flash heading into the fourth.

It was the Terriers' turn to start quick in the fourth, as do-it-all senior Leah Fechko hit a three and set up another bucket to bring SFBK to within three at 69-66. Fechko had 20 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists on the night to lead the Terriers and recorded her 1,000th point of her stellar career.

The Flash lead would dwindle to as little as two in the fourth but a clutch Reese three gave SFU some breathing room with five minutes to go. SFBK would get to within two on one other occasion but the Flash responded once again. Kovatch hit two big free throws with just over two minutes to go and after a big defensive stop, Adams hit her big three to put Saint Francis up six. Kovatch would hit all six of her free throws late to ice the game and give Saint Francis their first win in the Pope Athletic Center since 2013.

SFU had their best shooting night of the year, hitting on 48 percent of their shots (25-52) and forty percent of their threes (10-25). They also were clutch from the line, hitting 23 of 27 from the stripe, good for 85 percent. That hot shooting off set the Terriers 43-34 edge on the glass, including 19-4 on the offensive end. However, the Terriers could not connect on the extra looks, especially from deep, going 5-25 from three.

The win moves Saint Francis to 5-10 overall and 3-1 in the NEC. SFBK drops to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in conference. The Flash return home next weekend to welcome Mount St. Mary's and Fairleigh Dickinson. The Mountaineers are up first, tip time from DeGol Arena is set for 3p.m. on Saturday.