BOX SCORE LORETTO, PA-  The Saint Francis women's basketball team held off a second-half charge from Robert Morris and iced the game from the line, earning a 62-54 home victory on Saturday afternoon. 

The Red Flash snapped a two-game NEC slide with the victory and now sit at 6-3 in conference and 8-12 overall. Saturday's victory was also the 300th Northeast Conference victory for the program and became the first NEC school to reach the milestone, doing so in 503 contests. 

It was the Saint Francis defense that proved to be the difference on Saturday. The Flash held Robert Morris to just 29 percent shooting overall and 6-28 from three-point range. The Red Flash were held without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the second half, but the defense held the Colonials to just a 10-5 run during the span to preserve the Red Flash lead.

"I like our defensive intensity today," Coach Joe Haigh said. "I especially like the play of Brielle (Ward) and Jess (Kovatch)," Haigh added. "Bri had a ton of hustles plays as she always does, but Jess isn't known for her defense but she led us in rebounding today and made a ton of big plays defensively late that helped seal it."

SFU ripped off a 10-0 run in the early part of the first quarter to grab an early 12-5 lead on Saturday. The defense held RMU scoreless for nearly four minutes while each of the five starters had a bucket in the run. A Maya Wynn (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) three last capped a strong first quarter by the Red Flash, who led 18-12 after 10 minutes. The lead would grow to double digits thanks in part to a put back by Cydney Smith (Port Tobacco, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) and a pair from the foul line for Kovatch. The freshman shook off a cold shooting day (4-12) to hit 12-13 from the foul line and finish with 21 points and a team high eight rebounds. 

The Colonials would try to chip away at the lead in the second, only to see Saint Francis respond and push the lead back to double figures. The Flash got another big three, this one from Aisha Brock (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy) to answer a Colonial bucket and send the Flash into the locker room up 33-21. It would be the senior's only field goal of the day as she finished with four points. 

Three pointers by Maya Wynn (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) and Reese stretched the lead out to 13 on a pair of occasions in the third, the largest lead for either team. A Wynn lay-in with 4:22 left in the quarter would be the final field goal for the Flash in the quarter as SFU missed their final six shots in the third. However, the defense held Robert Morris to just 11 points during the field goal drought. SFU would manage six free throws down the stretch and took a 48-42 lead into the final quarter. 

The cold streak continued into the final frame as Saint Francis missed their first four shots of the quarter. Again the defense prevented the Colonials from taking advantage, holding RMU to just two points over the first four minutes of the quater. Samiah Bethel (Jacksonville, Fla./Potter's House Christian Academy)'s run out lay-up broke the streak and Halee Adams (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) followed with a fall-away jumper on the next possession has SFU led 52-49 at the media timeout. Kovatch then scored on back-to-back possessions, capping a big 5-0 run to stretch the Flash lead to six. Robert Morris would get no closer than four the rest of the way, as SFU hit seven of their final eight free throws to ice the game, including three of four from Ward.

"It was awesome to see Bri (Ward) hit those big shots for us," Haigh said. "Robert Morris seemed to target her and tried to put her on the line and she came up big tonight."

Neither team shot the ball well, with Saint Francis shooting just 31 percent and Robert Morris 29. It was the Flash's attacking nature that proved to be the difference, going 27-35 (77 percent) from the line on Saturday. The Colonials out rebounded SFU 50-36 including 23-9 on the offensive end. Mikalah Mulrain and Megan Smith each had 12 rebounds to lead RMU, who had a 19-5 edge in second-chance points. Saint Francis forced 22 turnovers, leading to 22 points and 11 on the fast break. Bethel and Ward each had four steals as the Flash had 14 swipes on the day. 

Maya Wynn (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) had 10 points for the Flash who received a balanced effort on Saturday. Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) added eight points and a team-high four assists. Anna Nikki Stamolamprou led RMU with 13 points. 

The victory puts Saint Francis into third-place in the NEC standings at 6-3 while Robert Morris falls to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in the NEC. SFU will look to keep rolling on Monday when they travel to New Jersey to take on Fairleigh Dickinson. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.